6: Shades of Deception
by Pip the Bat
Summary: A Sonic Adventure 2 adaptation with twists. When Sonic and Tails go on holiday to Sapphire City, events take a turn for the worse with the arresting of Sonic and the introduction of a new villain -- Shadow.
1. Original and Fake

Shades of Deception 

~An adaptation of Sonic Adventure 2~   
By Pip the Bat 

"I got bored dying, so I decided to do something marginally more entertaining." -- Pip 

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Copyright:  
Sonic, Tails and related characters are copyright to Sega. Pip, Heat and all other fan made characters are copyright to me, Pip the Bat. Spark is copyright to Ace Castle. Used with permission. 

Many notes to readers:   
1) This is only a loose adaptation of Sonic Adventure 2, and accuracy is higher in some places than others, although it is not guaranteed or even encouraged. : )   
2) I have modified some of the characters' backgrounds to suit my own purposes, so please do not get annoyed or steal my ideas (at least not without permission). Thank you.   
3) Saborian is inspired by Dr Who.   
4) The only other SA2 adaptation I have read to date is Shayne's, so that I will not be influenced by other people's work.   
5) I am inclined towards the Fleetway theory about Knuckles, though they never had a chance to develop it. I therefore have invented my own Knuckles theory inspired partly by that. Please do not steal it, either.   
6) Samantha is purely an experiment; I do NOT want to be Sonic's girlfriend any more than I want my leg sawn off without anaesthetic.   


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_________________________________  
Chapter 1: Original and Fake  
~The coming of the Ultimate Life Form~  
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A swoosh of wind, a distant pounding of feet: the only sounds to disturb the otherwise serene quiet. Even the gurgling stream seemed to have a veil thrown over it, while the normally expressive woodland birds were silent.

The sound of pounding feet came closer, and within seconds, a figure had burst from under cover of the trees. It was a blue hedgehog with a deep sienna chest, face and ears. The hedgehog was wearing red and white striped trainers, as well as a pair of spotless white gloves. His breath came sharp and fast: perhaps from exhaustion, perhaps from fear.

In the flatland that he was running through, there was no cover to be seen, not a single shrub nor plant. Nevertheless, he had made it halfway across before anything happened to him. The hedgehog had been glancing over his shoulder, checking for any signs of pursuit, when something hit the ground in front of him, exploding in a great ball of light. He was catapulted backwards, coming to rest a few feet away, face down upon the ground.

Something was approaching in the distance, moving quite fast for its size and apparent weight. As it drew closer, its shape became more distinguishable, and it was recognisable as a robotic walker machine. The design was slightly haphazard: it somehow managed to retain both the characteristics of the elite warriors of government manufacture, as well as the more eccentric home-made angle. The single supporting leg was mocked by the machine's much larger body. It indicated that complex workmanship would be involved in the creation of such a thing - how else was it still standing? A gun turret and missile launcher were on the forefront of the walker, daring anybody to oppose its ungamely majesty. Painted onto the side next to those were the initial coding P-3a, among various other signs and symbols. The colouring was red and white, harmonising with the creature sitting nonchalantly at the controls.

He was an orange fox with a furry white face, chest and ears. A tufty fringe drooped from his head. His fluffy twin tails curled up either side of him, their white tips flicking minimally, barely retaining showing their owner's excitement. The fox wore white gloves, fastened with a buckle - his red and white shoes were similarly fastened. He was sitting astride the walker, his legs dangling either side, as if he were merely riding a horse or a common mule. His hands flicked across the controls expertly, and with confidence. He was obviously at home with machines. Looking down at the hedgehog, his grin of triumph was barely concealed.

"I got you-" he began, but at that moment, he leaned too far forward, overbalancing and falling to the ground with a painful thud.

The hedgehog was on his feet in an instant, leaping to where the young fox lay stunned. His concern might have seemed strange to an observer, considering the fox had just shot at him. "Tails?" No reply. "Tails, are you okay?"

Groaning and rubbing his head, Tails pushed himself onto his knees. "I guess so," he answered, ruefully.

Sonic sighed and rolled his eyes. "I keep telling you that you've got to fit some kind of strap or something onto that machine, dude, otherwise you're just going to keep falling off. Another leg might help too. I can't see how it keeps its balance at all."

"Mm." The fox cast a dispirited glance back at the walker. "Maybe. A cockpit would be favourite, except I'd have to go over to Sapphire City to get the parts. I think I've just about cleaned Rotor's workshop up of everything."

The hedgehog grinned, helping Tails to his feet. "Yeah, I think he'd be glad to see the back of you. Tell you what, we could both go, and make a trip of it. Take the Tornado or something, and see if we can't strap that thing to it. I'd like to see the place again - I mean, we haven't been there for ages."

Tails stopped looking worried and treated his friend an innocent looking smirk. "Are you sure you don't just want to see Sam again?" He snickered quietly as his friend's face turned an unbecoming shade of pink.

Sam, or Samantha Rose, to give her her full name, was an opaline hedgehog. Her main colour was a dappled marble blue, while her eyes harmonised with a light purple. The hedgehog owned and managed a chao garden in Sapphire City. She was easy going, though very protective of the chao she cared for, and would do anything to protect them, even if it meant putting her own life in danger. Sam was always friendly and obliging to Sonic, Knuckles and Tails, who she had first met while they were on their last major adventure in Sapphire City: stopping the water beast known as Chaos.

"No way!" Sonic exclaimed, blushing furiously. "I just want to, y'know, look about the place. They might have done it up since we last saw it." Actually, the last time that they had seen it, the city had been a smashed wreck, pulverised by the fury of Chaos. That had been nearly a year ago though, and the repairs would have been duly made a while back.

"I wouldn't mind doing that," Tails agreed, brightly. "It all looked a little depressing as we left it. Do you think they'll give us some kind of heroes' welcome, for saving them last time?"

Sonic shrugged. "Doubt it, dude. They'll probably have other things to be getting on with."

A pause. "I wouldn't mind seeing Sam again," Tails said. "She's nice; I like her. Amy can be kinda fun, too." Amy was Samantha's younger sister, who had a crush on Sonic. Sonic did not appreciate her attentions however, merely finding her annoying. Still, he felt a little fond of her in an older brother sort of way - during their battle against Robotnik and Chaos, he had gone to a lot of trouble to save her from Zero, a robot who had kidnapped her.

"Yeah, right," muttered Sonic, sarcastically. "Do you know why she's pink, not opaline? Apparently, she coloured herself with permanent dye because she thought that it would attract my attention. I mean, honestly."

"Who told you that?"

"Amy."

"Was she pink when she first met you?"

Sonic thought back to bumping into the little kid in Sapphire City. He nodded. "Uh-huh." Tails said nothing, waiting until the hedgehog finally realised. "Oh." He stared into the middle distance. "She still dyed it permanent pink anyway," he said, defensively. "Which is a dumb thing to do."

They stood in silence for a moment, looking up at the walker. "Have you decided on a name for it yet?" asked Sonic, eventually, more to break the quiet than out of interest. He knew that Tails was keen on his creations though, and quite enjoyed listening to him babbling on about them at length, as he was prone to do once started.

"Nah." The fox shook his head. "I want to get it finished before I name it. If I just do one now, it might not suit it, and it's bad luck to rename a machine, same as ships."

"Suit yourself." Tails glanced towards Sonic, who had unconsciously begun tapping his foot. His friend was well known for his impatience.

"Do you want to go ahead to Knothole and ask Sally about us visiting Sapphire City, while I bring my walker? It won't take me a minute." So saying, he spun his twin tails like rotor blades upon a helicopter. They lifted him off the ground and into the air, and he flew back onto the control seat of the machine, preparing to ride saddleback style again.

Sonic nodded. "See ya there." With a turn of his amazing speed, he was away and out of sight, towards the village of Knothole, leaving a choking trail of dust in his wake. Smiling to himself, Tails lovingly set his machine in motion, and the single leg propelled itself forward in a hopping motion, nearly dislodging him again. Maybe Sonic was right about giving it two legs, rather than just the one.

He hit a rut in the grass, and the machine almost went tumbling over onto its side, giving a warning lurch before it succeeded in righting itself again. Definitely two legs.

Humming tunelessly to himself, the young mechanic piloted the walker towards Knothole.

***

An obese human was seated at a desk; his chair pushed back to encompass his weight comfortably. His large figure was garbed in a red shirt with a yellow collar, and black tight-fitting trousers. Bristling out of his face like some kind of bushy tailed animal was a brown moustache. To a casual observer, it might have seemed that he had grafted the hair from his bald dome, stuffing it up his nose instead. His eyes were black and beady: filled with cunning.

He was also smiling. This expression alone could have caused many creatures serious concern about their immediate future, and what horrible tortures it could involve. However, there was no one in the room to witness his glee at that moment in time.

Laughing softly to himself, he fanned himself with the small book he was holding, the pages of which were unbetraying of their age. That was due entirely to their owner's working: he had been a superb scientist of his time. The book was a diary, and, according to the small precise lettering printed upon the cover, belonged to one Professor Gerald Robotnik.

The human had not known that his grandfather had kept a diary: to the contrary, he had always thought of 'Granddad' as a mysterious and elusive figure. He had hardly ever seen him, not even on his birthdays or Christmas when the rest of the family had gathered together. His grandmother had died over ten years before he had been born. Almost all he had ever got was via post - a typed birthday card each year, not even signed, and a check for a not inconsiderable sum of money. He had received dozens of these, keeping them all stashed away orderly in a little box of keepsakes.

He had never expected to find anything of value or use to him by looking through his box again after all these years. Most people, even the current Robotnik, felt the need every so often for a trip down memory lane. Thus it was, that while sorting through his birth certificate, documents, and cards - including his one and only Valentine's card from his school days - he had stumbled across It.

Robotnik had to confess, he never remembered receiving It from anybody, or even putting It into the box. Professor Gerald Robotnik had disappeared many years previously, to where none knew. It was not even known if he still lived or not. Personally, Robotnik doubted it. Nevertheless, It was there: the diary of his grandfather.

Flicking through the diary, he had swiftly become intrigued, becoming unable to put it down after the first few entries. It was very interesting, very interesting indeed.

Putting the diary down carefully on the surface of the desk, he bellowed out a command. "Mecha! Come here!"

***

A golden echidna sat up where she had fallen, gazing quietly at the creatures in front of her. They had appeared seemingly from nowhere, startling her completely; the reason why she was in her current position. She had leapt into the air with terror, skidding as she landed, toppling over backwards into the mud. Now she stared silently, wondering what and who these wondrous creatures could be.

They were seated upon a magnificent beast, the front half of whom was like that of a giant eagle, while the back half was like that of a lion. The tawny feathers of the eagle blended in perfectly just below the wing level with the golden-brown of the lion's fur. Much equipment burdened the animal, though it did not seem to care, or even feel the weight of it. It had fixed her with a most intelligent gaze, and the words 'dumb animal' vanished from her mind without a trace.

One of the passengers, a green hedgehog, leapt down from the creature's back, shaking himself hard, as if he had just come out from a swim in a pool. "Can't you make this thing go any smoother?" he complained, rubbing his temple. "I didn't mean you," he added, as the half-eagle, half-lion turned its sharp gaze upon him. "I meant the whole of the time-and-space equipment. Stuff. Thing. You know what I mean."

The first thing that struck home about the hedgehog was his hair: there was masses upon masses of it, all unruly, yet somehow managing to look becoming upon him. He wore a red jacket, a brown leather pouch belt, red and white shoes, and white gloves fastened with spiked metal cuffs. His left ear was pierced, bearing two gold rings. About his neck hung a medallion that winked when the sun caught it. His main colour was, as previously stated, green, although his face, stomach, inside of ears and arms were all a tanned cream colour. She judged him to be in his teens, about 15 or 16. A cheeky grin was worn upon his face; he was obviously teasing the other rider.

"You told Karisma that you enjoyed it," the other remarked, wryly. He was a tiger, mainly a fiery orange with black stripes, though his right ear was mostly white, and his muzzle was a creamy yellow. His hair was worn long, a lengthy tuft of it hanging down his face, over one eye. The left eye was ringed in black, as if he had been injured there, though the mark was entirely natural. About his neck was a metal collar. He also wore a leather belt and sash, attached to which was a small green box that hung by his hip. His shoes were sharply highlighted, due to their contrasting colours: green, orange and red. Upon his head was a battered brown cowboy hat. The colour of his eyes was a deep oak brown. They twinkled mischievously as he spoke. He looked as if he was in his late teenage years, though she had the curious feeling that he was much, much older.

The tiger leapt down from the novel creature's back, executing a smooth bow towards the golden echidna. She stared at him, wide-eyed. "What ... who are you?" she managed, wondering whether she ought to flee from these apparitions.

His reply was swift, and she noted with interest his cultured voice. "I am known as Sabre. My real name is Saborian, but everybody shortens it. My companion-" Here the beaked creature behind him gave a hiss of annoyance. "Sorry, companions. I'd forgotten you," he added, smirking good-naturedly at the green hedgehog. "This is Krasyetta," he said, gesturing to the eagle-lion. "Make sure you pronounce it kraz-yed-da, or you'll be in trouble with her."

"And I'm Manic," the hedgehog told her, sticking out one hand to help her to her feet. "Pleased to meet you, Tikal." She gave a start of surprise, retracting her hand. How did they know her name?

Sabre frowned at him, his eyes giving the message 'Don't worry her'. "You asked what we are," he stated. "If by that you meant species, then Krasyetta is a gryffin, Manic is, as you might have guessed, a hedgehog, and I am a sabre-toothed tiger."

She opened her mouth in astonishment, forgetting her terror of the strangers. "The sabre-toothed tigers were thought to have died out centuries ago!" she gasped. Then, after a pause, she asked: "But what about ..." She hesitated, wondering how to phrase her question without giving offence.

Manic came to her rescue. "Where are his big long teeth? You don't wanna see him when he has them, trust me. His eyes go all red and mean, and his teeth grow about a foot in length."

"As to what we do," Sabre continued, ignoring the interruption, "we travel through time and space." Tikal opened her mouth to ask more questions, but he cut across her before she could. "We will answer all your questions and more, only later. You see, we have come to ask for your help. Will you come with us?"

What help could she possibly be to such amazing travellers? she wondered. Could she give her time, too? She had only just succeeded in cultivating the village of the surviving community of echidnas to its former grandeur, after the certain ... events that had taken place. Her father and most of the warriors were dead after the whole affair with Chaos several months ago. During that time she had had to use her power to its full extent: the power to grant other creatures visions.

As if guessing her thoughts, the tiger added, casually: "It would help greatly the survival of Knuckles Echidna."

She stood at once, her decision made. "I will come," she told them.

***

Sonic's feet slowed their relentless pounding somewhat as he skidded into the village. The hedgehog was aware that most of the villagers would get angry with him if he ran them down, which happened less and less these days. He was not quite as careless as he had been, especially after Jeanne, the healer squirrel, had whacked him in the face with her clipboard the last time he had accidentally hit her.

Even so, he almost stood on someone as he entered the village. It was Citras, the tropical green android hedgehog. His elbows, tail, spikes and ears were tipped with metal points, while he wore metal kneecaps. Upon his forehead was a purple triangle which, if it signified anything, it was not known what. He wore white gloves on his hands and metal-soled black and white lace-ups on his feet, as well as his infamous purple bomber jacket. His eyes were bright and friendly, his lazy grin welcoming; all part of his charm. For Citras was one of the few remaining 'perfect' androids, creatures that had an unearthly skill at drawing others to like them (without any seeming effort), amongst their other skills.

"Hey Sonic," he said, cheerfully, without looking up from his crouched position on the floor. The blue hedgehog could see that he had just dropped a pile of papers on the floor, and was trying hastily to dust them down. "Jeanne asked me to take these," he explained, seeing Sonic's questioning look. "Just don't tell her I dropped them, okay?" Straightening up, he shook the papers once to free them of the remaining earth. "Good as new. How's it going then, with you and that walker? Did you win?"

Sonic hastened to explain. "We weren't doing it to win or lose."

"So you lost then?"

"I didn't say that!" he protested.

"No, but if you'd beaten it you would have said."

The blue hedgehog looked defensive. "I wasn't supposed to be trying. If I'd trashed it, Tails would have had a fit. We were just seeing if it could hit a running target."

"And could it?"

"Almost. It just missed me, although I was stunned quite badly afterwards. The only problem is, Tails fell off it before he could get to me."

Citras laughed, flashing his teeth. "Why doesn't he have some kind of grips on it?"

"He's dried up practically all of Knothole's equipment." He nodded towards Rotor's workshop, where most of the equipment was usually housed. "We're thinking of going on a trip to Sapphire City." Sonic could not resist adding, in a nonchalant tone: "That's where I fought Perfect Chaos, y'know. Anyway, they've almost got equipment to give away there. It's a kinda cool place too - lots of space to run in."

"Would you believe it, but I've never been there. I've heard people talking about it before now though. I wouldn't mind visiting it myself sometime," he added, wistfully.

Sonic replied before he knew what he was saying. "Why don't you join us then?" He groaned inwardly. Even after all this time, he still had trouble resisting the urge to try and please the android. Luckily for him though, he had no problem about him tagging along. He had already had one adventure with Citras anyway, and they were firm friends.

"Really? You're not just saying that because it's me, are you?" Sonic shook his head. "I think I might just do that then. You can show me all your victory sites and the layout of the place. It could be fun, huh?"

About to reply, Sonic suddenly dug Citras hard in the ribs. "Hey dude, I'd look out if I were you. I think Jeanne's on the warpath." Glancing back, the tropical hedgehog saw the squirrel stalking towards them angrily, now only a few huts away.

With a hurried "Later" he dashed away, saving himself from the healer's colourful wrath. Sonic, deciding that he had better get himself out of harm's way if Jeanne was on the warpath, dodged behind the nearest hut. He fancied that he caught a "When will he ever learn?" under her breath as she passed, though he could not be sure. Sonic grinned to himself.

"Good old Jeanne," he murmured to himself, grinning.

He went to look for Sally. He did not have to go far before he found her. She was taking some measurements for a new hut, the ever trusty Nicole tucked under one arm. Knothole was no longer the minuet village it had once been (although it was by no means big or even medium sized yet); at one time they had had huts to spare. In fact, they still had huts to spare, since many villagers were moving out to the larger cities now. The huts were not all for living quarters though: several were used for storing supplies.

"Oh, hi Sonic," she said, holding one end of the tapemeasure in her mouth. "Do you think you could just hold this for a minute?"

"Sure." The hedgehog obligingly held the tapemeasure while Sally wound it out. Frowning to herself, she untucked a piece of paper from under her chin, scribbling down some quick measurements on it, then letting go of her end, allowing it to snap back into its holder.

"Thanks. I think that should do it now." She reclaimed the tapemeasure, which he held out to her. "So." She flicked back her hair. "Did you want something?"

"I was wondering if you could cope without me, Tails and Citras for a week or two. We've got nothing left to finish building Tails's walker with, and he's a hazard to himself in it as it is."

"You want to take a break? I'm certain we won't need any extra help over our end: it's been really quiet, after all. Where were you thinking of going?"

"Sapphire City."

"Checking over your old victory grounds, huh? Well, I've got no problem with that. It'll do you both good to get away."

He grinned. "Cheers, Sal. Tails will be thrilled when I tell him. He's dying to get that walker of his finished. Personally, I wouldn't mind cruising round the place. You can get up to a really high velocity in some of the areas."

The squirrel flicked her hair out of her eyes with a toss of her head. "Whatever. Just don't go and get yourself arrested for breaking the speed limit or something. I know you," she added, darkly.

"Me? Arrested? Ha, they'd have to catch me first." Seeing the expression on her face, he quickly added: "Okay, okay, I promise I won't go around annoying the police or anything. I think we'll go in a couple of days; it won't take us too long to get ready. We can stay at that hotel we were at last time."

Sally could not help but smile. "I think you're going to enjoy yourselves," she said. "You'll have a great time."

***

At that moment in the very hotel that Sonic was talking about in Sapphire City, two figures were facing each other across a round glass table, one gazing expressionlessly, the other nervously wetting their lips.

Eventually one spoke. "It's your move," said the expressionless one. The creature was a robot bat, charcoal black with icy blue eyes. Dangling from a chain about her neck was a translucent blue gemstone. She was one of the Mecha bots; ruthless killer robots who were a constant bane to Knothole. Her arms were folded and she was sitting in a confident casual position. The robot's name was Pip, or Steel Pip if formalities were called for. Seated upon the table to her left was a golden cat chao, with a red triangular mark down his forehead, and tear marks at the sides of his body. He had a long curling tail and fiery red wings. His life-force sphere was spiked.

The creature facing her was a silvery stoat with a white-tipped tail. He was obviously uncomfortable with the robot's presence, the thought 'How was she allowed in here?' etched across his face. Trembling, he extended one hand, lifting one of his pawns and moving it forward one square.

Almost as soon as he did so, a loud beep sounded. Without shifting her gaze from the board, the robot reached down, picked up a com unit and hurled it out of the window. The tinkling of broken glass was followed by an anguished cry from below: supposedly the com had landed on somebody. The ferret gulped, wondering if there was any possible chance of him being held responsible for any injuries or the damage sustained to the window.

The golden chao spoke. "Do you think that was a good idea? It might have been something important."

"Well, if it was, they would hardly bother to tell me," replied the bat. Slowly, deliberately, she moved her queen across the board. "Checkmate." Her eyes met her opponent's, and he was forced to look away. Leaving the stoat to figure out his loss, she turned to the chao. "Let's face it, there's absolutely no reason for him trying to contact us."

"Then why did he just try?"

"Wrong number? Anyway, what if I don't want to talk to him? I mean, he's so boring. I'm not going to run about for him on his every whim, am I Heat?"

Heat smirked a little, possibly at the thought of 'him' running. "Okay then, but it might not actually be Robotnik. It could be Mecha, or Robo maybe. They call you just about every day." Mecha and Robo were the other two Mecha bots, known formally as Metal Sonic and Robo Knuckles, respectively.

"Then they can live without talking to me today."

"I guess so." He paused, a nasty grin spreading across his face. "I wonder why they keep calling you up?"

"Absolutely no idea."

Heat sighed. His mistress was not always good at taking a hint. She would honestly be none the wiser as to the reason for their attentions. "Never mind."

Pip turned back to the stoat. He was staring dismally at the board, as if in some kind of trance. Heat guessed that he was trying not to cry.

"Don't be too upset," she told him, brightly. "After all, you've only lost your title as Sapphire City Chess Grand Master. Oh, and the prize money of course. Not to mention-" The stoat burst into noisy sobs. "Oh dear," she said, without any sign of regret. "I made him cry."

Choking back his tears, her opponent gasped out: "Robots shouldn't be allowed to participate! It's not right!"

All of a sudden, the room seemed to grow a lot quieter, so that only his snuffles and the distant murmuring of voices in the street below were audible. On her feet in an instant, Pip extended her claws, driving them into the table top, right through the centre of the board. "Do you have something against robots?" she hissed, deadly menace in her voice, leaning over him.

Something suicidal in the stoat's brain caused him to plunge recklessly ahead. "Robots are just cheating scum; everybody knows that. They oughtn't to be allowed to enter Chess Championships, or anything else for that matter. Nobody likes robots."

"Really? Is that what you think?" The tone could have quailed many a brave heart. "Has it ever occurred to you that robots might not like people like you?"

"I ... I'm always open to new ideas," he stuttered, grinning in a maniacally desperate way.

"How nice." She withdrew her claws from the table, straightened then stood, looking out of the shattered window. The claws upon her other hand were now extended, and they were both raised in the air. The stoat moved his chair back, silently as he thought, hoping to reach the door before she turned again. Unluckily for him, he was not quiet enough, or perhaps she could see his reflection in the shards of glass.

"Are you open to suggestions?" With a whirl of movement, she had reached him, grabbing him by the neck and lifting him up as if his weight was no more than a rag doll's. Later on, he told anyone who would listen that she had been about to throw him out the window, to certain death below.

Whether this would have occurred or not would never be known, for the door of the room was thrown open at that moment. Framed in the doorway were several angry looking human security guards, clad in a uniform blue. He realised that they must have come to see about the extreme ejection of the com unit. Hissing with fury, the robot hurled him across the room at the guards. Too surprised to react, the guards ended up in a tangled heap with the stoat, yelling and shoving each other, thus thwarting the others' attempts to stand.

By the time they had all set themselves free from one another, both the bat and the chao had vanished.

***

"We should do this more often!" Sonic yelled to Tails, over the noise of the engines. In his opinion, standing upon the wings of the bi-plane, feeling the rush of the wind ruffling through his quills, was almost - if not quite - as good a feeling as running.

Tails just nodded: he was concentrating on steering the Tornado, the bi-plane that he had lovingly constructed and improved as time went by. Sonic thought that it had been the first proper machine that the fox had ever built. With the constant changes, tweaks and alterations that it received, it was now a streamlined, although somewhat battered beauty. Both Mobians loved to fly in or on it.

Citras was sitting calmly on the other wing, looking down, observing the serene sea below. He had never ridden on the bi-plane before, and Sonic was wondered at how fazed he had been to begin with. The android managed to surprise him every time. Sonic had never thought of him as being scared of heights.

"I'm not scared of the actual heights," Citras had explained to him, confidentially. "I'm just scared of the ground. It's the ground that kills you."

They had packed everything that they needed to take, though as they were staying at the hotel, they did not need to take too much. The walker was strapped securely to the underside of the Tornado. It was slowing them down a little, but not as much as he had first thought it would. Either their bi-plane was a lot more powerful than it looked, the walker was crafted well in a lightweight fashion, or maybe even both. Sonic like to think it was the latter.

The hedgehog looked down. Already the nightlights of the mainland were visible. There was something exciting and comforting about seeing the lights of a city at night from a plane, he thought. It was a kind of magic all its own.

"Not long until we land," Tails told him from the cockpit. It was unnecessary, but he enjoyed being in command of his bi-plane. This time though, there might be another reason; Sonic caught a faint note of worry in his voice as he spoke.

"Is something wrong?" he asked, sharply.

"It's the walker," Tails reported at once. He had been mulling on the problem for some time. "I think it must be slowing us down too much. I've packed all the fuel I could possibly get in, but because of the walker we've been going too slowly: burning up more energy." Sonic gave him a quizzical look. "What I'm trying to say is that I don't think we're going to quite make it there."

Citras looked up. "What?"

"Normally, there's a slight chance that we might just be able to run on no fuel for a little bit, almost gliding if you get my drift." None of them, least of all Tails, noticed the pun. "With the walker though, we're just too heavy."

Sonic put his hands on his hips. "C'mon then, Mr. Technical Expert, what can we do then?"

"Crash, by the looks of it," Tails informed them, miserably. "I can't really see anything we can do for the Tornado." He paused. "I suppose I could airlift you to safety, although that would mean leaving the Tornado and the walker." The other two could not think of anything to say: they both knew how much Tails loved the bi-plane.

"Take Citras first then," Sonic told him. "I can handle the controls for a while; I know how to do that much."

Tails nodded. "Can you swim, Citras?" he asked. "Because I can't get you to the mainland and still help Sonic."

The android nodded. "Uh-huh. I'd just been swimming the first time I met Sonic." The fox nodded: he remembered that.

Handing the controls over to Sonic, the fox spun his two tails, lifting him off the bi-plane's surface and into the air. "Grab hold of my ankles," he instructed Citras. "And hang on tight."

Sonic watched them briefly, as Citras followed Tails's commands and the two hovered down out of sight. Then his full concentration was focused on the controls. They suddenly seemed a lot more complex than they had done last time he had flown the Tornado. Tails must have upgraded it more than he had thought. Grappling desperately with the controls, wondering if he was actually doing more harm than help, he awaited the fox's return.

Meanwhile, Tails and his passenger were still about twenty feet above the surface of the sea, when a screaming object hurtled out of the air, connecting solidly with the fox's skull. Drifting into a hazy fog, Tails barely noticed as he plummeted the drop, landing with a loud and painful splash in the water.

Citras hit the water a few seconds before, converting his fall into an improvised - though impressive - dive. Gliding swiftly through the water, he surfaced, glancing about him for the fox. As he could not drown, being what he was, the all-enveloping sea did not bother him.

A few strokes was all it took to reach the fox, who was floating calmly on the gentle waves, apparently in no danger at all. Relieved, Citras bobbed up and down beside him. Remembering Sonic, he jerked his head back, trying to catch a glimpse of the Tornado. There it was, passing overhead, disappearing out of sight. His mind raced, trying to think of something he could do to help his friend. Nothing. Cursing himself for his uselessness, he could only watch helplessly for the inevitable crash.

Sonic flicked the controls this way and that, trying to figure out some conceivable pattern that would allow him to pilot the bi-plane. He frowned to himself, near panicking. Where had Tails got to? Had something happened to him? Or was time passing more slowly than his beating heart told him? He hoped that he would turn up soon, or he was done for.

A minute passed, and the fear gripped him in its ice-cold talons, refusing to release him. Tails was not coming, that was for certain. He had to try and keep his head, to work out a plan of action. That was easier said than done though, especially when the bi-plane's fuel gauge was already registering zero: he was running on the dregs of the tank alone.

His eyes roved the Tornado for something - anything - that he could use to aid him. His eyes fell on Tails's pack, and an idea slowly began to form in his mind. He knew that Tails had packed his trusty craft knife - he remembered helping him to pack his items, after all.

Leaving the controls, he grabbed the craft knife and stepped onto the wing. Having balanced on it many times before, it proved to be no difficulty to him. Dropping to his hands and knees, Sonic grasped the underside of the wing, and swung himself downwards. With a lurch, he found himself falling, then almost as suddenly he stopped. His foot had caught itself in the rope attaching the walker to the Tornado. He breathed a sigh of relief. Thank goodness for small mercies. He had not even lost the knife.

He gave himself no rest, spending a perilous few seconds swinging himself upright. Grasping the rope fireman-style, he took the craft knife in one hand, moving it backwards and forwards in a sawing motion. He only wished that the ropes were not as strong as he had previously hoped. Why could the knife not be sharper? Then he was through, nearly falling again as the rope gave way to his frantic slashes. After that, the other ropes seemed easier to cut. Perhaps he had adapted himself to the task, or perhaps he was getting gradually more desperate with each stroke.

When he had frayed the fifth rope, and only one remained, it became much harder to keep his balance, as whichever way he turned he would fall. Levering himself up, he managed to secure a handhold on the wheels of the Tornado. One hand would have to do for now. His sawing was gentler this time: he did not wish for the walker to fall before he had got a safer grip. One last hack, and the rope snapped under the weight of the walker. Using his renowned split-second reactions, Sonic swung his other hand up, letting go of the knife.

Being the heavier of the two, the walker hit the surface of the water first, a shower splashing everywhere from where it landed. The ripples spread out around it for a long time afterwards. The knife made a much smaller splash, although Sonic did not see it hit: he was more concerned with where the bi-plane was going to land. From the looks of it, it was going to crash right into the small forest of palm trees that fringed the beach. He groaned to himself - it seemed like it was out of the frying pan into the fire.

The bi-plane was now tilted slightly, angling itself perfectly. The trees were rushing up at a terrifyingly fast speed, and Sonic knew without a doubt that he was only going to get one try at this.

As the bi-plane soared over the beach, he dropped, curling up into a spiky ball, to cushion the impact of his landing. Fortunately, the fall was only ten feet, which was next to nothing to Sonic: he had fallen from much worse heights in his time. That did not save him from being more than a little bruised, however. Uncurling and propping himself up on his elbows, he forgot about his injuries for a moment as he saw the bi-plane skim down, finally making contact with the trees.

It would have broken Tails's heart to see the ensuing crash. The Tornado crumpled up like it was made of paper, wings tearing, and engines shrieking in protest at this treatment. Sonic turned away, sickened. It was only a machine, he knew, but that did not make its demise any more palatable.

Worn out, he slumped back down into the damp granules of sand, wetted by the innocently sparkling sea behind him.

***

Chao were playing happily together - with one or two exceptions - looking like they were having the time of their lives. Such was the way with a chao garden, the so-called perfect home for any chao. There were many different types and breeds there, ranging from common, to rare to types never even heard of before. The garden was gaily decorated: garishly coloured balls were rocking gently in the breeze or being pushed along by chao; delicious looking fruits were scattered around; toys of many kinds were all about the place.

As one, the chao all looked towards the entrance, as if they had sensed something. Even the ones who were bickering or having play fights stopped what they were doing to look.

A figure, hooded and cloaked in a shimmering purpley-blue material slipped in. It was impossible from the arrangement of the cloak who they were, or even what kind of creature. They were followed by a chao; golden and cat-like. Both he and the mysterious figure were well known to the chao of the Sapphire City garden.

"Hi chao," announced the mysterious cloaked figure.

"Hi Steel," they chorused, happily.

The golden chao observed at the others with a incurious air. Noticing one or two of them watching him, he yawned pointedly, treating them to his unimpressed gaze.

"Do you know where Sam is?" asked the figure, politely.

"She's just gone out to get some food," one chao told her, an off-white light chaos chao with luminous green eyes. "She won't be long, if you want to wait. Little Mistress has gone with her."

A shift in the cloak that could have been a nod. "It's okay. I'll leave the money here." From some concealed pocket or compartment a black-gloved hand produced a large wad of notes. "Be sure to tell her when she gets back, won't you?"

"And woe betide you if any of you eat it," the cat chao added, his deadpan expression not shifting.

"We won't," the self-appointed spokeschao assured them. "We'll make sure they know."

"Thank you." As silently as they had come, the two left, none of the chao reading anything untoward into it. Within a few minutes, they were back to their normal rowdy behaviour.

***

Sonic, Citras and Tails were sitting in the outdoor hotel cafeteria. It was situated in a quad overhung with palm trees and other exotic plants, some completely unknown to the three friends. The floor was flagged with cool grey slabs, a great relief to those pattering back from the swimming pool to their towels. Sonic wondered how they did it. In his experience, you almost always got your feet scalded off when you stepped on the ground barefoot in the summer.

The fox sported a bandage carefully wrapped around the left side of his head. Sonic was not sure that it was entirely necessary, but finally reasoned that Tails was entitled to it after what had happened to the Tornado. The hedgehog was almost disappointed that he himself had nothing to show for his escapade. He always enjoyed showing off his 'war wounds', and the sympathy that he earned with them. Citras was fine too.

It was the day after their impromptu arrival, and they had done quite a lot in that time. After stumbling along to the hotel, they had succeeded in booking rooms, then had managed to enlist some voluntary help from some of the staff in recovering the Tornado and the walker. Citras and Sonic had gone with the staff, leaving Tails behind to have his head dressed and trussed in bandages. Surprisingly enough, the walker had sustained little if no damage whatsoever, save being a little waterlogged. It would not take a lot to set it as right as rain once more. After seeing the wreckage of the fox's bi-plane, Sonic was glad that Tails would get some consolation. The Tornado was wrecked badly; both the wings would need replacing, as would the tail. The least badly hit part was the cockpit, which had not received even a scratch. Both the Tornado and the walker had been stored in a nearby warehouse for safekeeping.

Tails had taken the news of the Tornado better than Sonic had expected. "It's not quite as bad as I'd thought," he had said to them, sighing. "At least I'll be able to fix it up, although it'll take some time. I'd thought that it would have to be written off totally." The fact that the walker was in a good condition helped to cheer him up as well.

"So, what are you going to show me today?" asked Citras.

The android could keep going without sleep indefinitely, and Tails had had some sleep while they were out salvaging his machines, but Sonic was worn out and sleepy. "Something that doesn't take a lot of effort," he groaned, covering his mouth to hide his yawning. "I need a good sleep, otherwise I'll be too dozy to enjoy anything properly."

"Why don't you try and get some sleep now?"

"Nah, it'll just muck up my sleeping pattern. I'll go to bed at night, same as everybody else."

It was Tails who came up with the obvious answer. "Why don't we go and see Sam and Amy then?" Sonic was pleased that it was the fox who had suggested it and not himself. He was simply too tired to take any teasing in good humour.

Citras was interested. "Didn't you say she keeps a chao garden?" The other two nodded in the affirmative. "Neat. They're cute little guys, although that doesn't cover the half of it."

"I think they're great," Tails told him, enthusiastically.

Sonic summed up their feelings in three words. "Chao are cool."

So it was decided: they would spend their first day visiting Samantha, Amy and the chao gardens.

***

Knuckles, the echidna Guardian of the Floating Island, yawned, covering his mouth with one spike-fisted gloved hand. The Guardian was red in colour, with a sienna face and purple eyes. His hair was long, in the dreadlock way of his kind. Not that there were any other echidnas around really. He was the last Mobian one at any rate, or so he thought. Upon his chest was a white crescent, showing his position of Guardian. He wore white gloves on his spiked fists, and red and yellow lace-up shoes.

He was yawning because he had had spent much time at work the previous day, going on late into the night. The fact that he had got up exceedingly early - at least by his usual standards - did not do anything to improve matters. True, he had been helped yesterday by the Chaotix Crew - Vector the crocodile, Mighty the armadillo, Espio the chameleon, and Charmey Bee. This morning however, he had not the heart to wake them, since they were slumbering so peacefully. He had made them work hard, and they deserved their rest. That left it to him to continue the job while they slept.

What he was trying to do was to restore the Master Emerald to its original shrine, where it had stood before its desolation in the First Coming of Chaos. Now, only the ruins remained. Someday, he had sworn to himself that he would restore it to its original splendour once more. This he was now trying to accomplish. However, unlike Hidden Palace, it would be open to the elements, at least until he could construct some kind of covering.

They had placed the Master Emerald in the centre of the stone quadrant at the summit of the temple. It had taken them a while to do, even with all of them helping, but they had managed it in the end. The Guardian thought that it would looked quite at home there.

Yawning once more, he gave the massive gem an ownerful pat, before walking away to go and get his shovel claws. There was a lot of gruelling work yet to be done.

***

The two hedgehog sisters had only just arrived back when Sonic, Tails and Citras arrived at the chao garden. It was located in the outskirts of the east section of the city; a sparsely populated area. That was fine for the purposes of chao breeding, they knew. It was not that chao did not like people, far from it, it was simply that some chao who were shyer than others would be intimidated by people crowding around them. It was there if you knew where to look.

Amy was the same age as Tails, quite pretty looking, with a short crop of spikes and a smooth fringe. Her main colour was, of course, pink. She wore a red dress with a white fringe, as well as red and white striped shoes and a red aliceband. She had golden cuffs on her gloves. Amy's eyes were a contrasting emerald green. As Sonic had green eyes too, she took this as an instant sign of a perfect match made.

Samantha looked a little like Amy, though not quite. For one thing, her colour was different; her natural opaline mottled blue with purple eyes. For another, she dressed differently. She wore white trousers and a short bikini top, with a yellow cowboy style sash tied about her neck. Her shoes were of the same make as Amy's, though with a different design: a red to white gradient, with a yellow tick on the outside. She also wore golden cuffs, like her sister. Her fringe was like Amy's; short and spiky, while her spines were cut in a slightly different style.

They appeared to have been shopping, for they were dumping down bags of food, for the chao and for themselves. Another indication of this was that Amy was squealing about a new pair of shoes that she had bought at a bargain price. Having been dragged along bargain hunting with the pink hedgehog once, Sonic knew how ruthless she could be in haggling with the shopkeepers. He felt almost sorry for them by the time she had finished.

They knew that they had been spotted when Amy yet out a delighted yell of "Sonic!". Both dropped their bags immediately, rushing over, showering them with greetings.

"Long time no see," Samantha commented, smiling at them in a relaxed fashion. "How've you been doing? Had any more adventures since we last saw you?"

Sonic grinned broadly. "You have no idea."

Tails butted in between them, glad to be seeing their old friend once more. "Yeah, we've saved the world from the monster of destruction and everything! How are the chao doing?"

"Oh, so-so. They've had a nasty virus running round them recently, but they're not doing too badly considering. It made one or two of them turn out a little ... weird when they evolved though. I'm afraid that some owners abandoned them when they saw what they'd turned out like." Her fists clenched as she spoke. She was passionate about chao, hating to see them mistreated in any way. "How can people be so cruel?" As if only just noticing the ferocious scowl upon her face, she suddenly grinned, sweeping her quills back. It was as if the sun had come out from behind the clouds. "Is this a social call, or are you just defeating the oppressive forces of darkness again? And if so, have you got time for a drink before you go?" She winked at them, flashing her radiant smile once more.

"Believe it or not, we're on holiday," Sonic said.

"Oh goodie!" squeaked Amy. "Does that mean you get to take us out to places then, huh? I'm dying to go to Twinkle Park again; I haven't been there for ages, and you're the only person I've ever beaten at the kart racing."

Sonic scowled, while the others laughed. "You mean you've actually been whupped?" Citras asked him innocently, ducking the swipe that followed. "I didn't think that was possible."

Samantha glanced at him, and to Sonic's delight, her eyes did not refocus in the way that he was accustomed to when people looked at Citras. "I'm sorry, I don't think we've met before, have we? I'm Samantha, but everyone calls me Sam. This is Amy, my little sister. We're opaline hedgehogs."

"Pleased to meet you. My name's Citras. I think you can guess what I am." Sonic privately thought that this was a good way of skipping any references to his being an android. He was not ashamed of what he was, but he had discovered that people were a lot more cautious of him if they knew.

"Do you want me to show you my new shoes?" Amy danced around Sonic, practically shoving the highheeled platforms into his face. "Aren't they just so cool? I got them really cheap too."

"And dispirited yet another sales assistant," Sonic added, but very quietly. "I suppose they're okay, if you like that kind of thing." Shoes were the one item of dresswear that he would actually enthuse about. He would have loved to be left to his own devices in a shop full of running trainers for him to test out. The blue hedgehog was not well disposed to platforms, though with shoes he was more willing to let 'each to their own'.

"I knew you'd like them."

Presently, the three Freedom Fighters found themselves sitting down to have a snack with Sam and Amy, among the playful chao. Somehow, a lot more of their food seemed to gravitate to the hungry mouths of the little creatures than it did to their own. The chao had already been fed of course, except that did not stop them coming back for more.

"You'll turn Eggman shaped if you carry on like that," Sonic told one chao, of light chaos classification, who was stuffing his face with crisps.

Sonic lifted the bowl out of the chao's reach, shaking a finger at him in a reprimanding way. The chao narrowed his eyes, his life-force sphere transforming into an angry squiggle of rage above his head, then blew a raspberry at the hedgehog. Sam, who had been watching, smirked.

"I guess he doesn't like the thought of that, do you Clove?"

"Huh," muttered the chao. Then his eyes lit up greedily. "If you give me the rest of those crisps back, then I'll tell you something you'll want to know."

"C'mon Clove, don't be greedy now." The chao snorted. "You'll get it back if you promise to share it with the other chao. Clove is Amy's chao," she informed Sonic, as if this explained everything.

"Okay, okay, I promise." Sonic set it back down next to him, and the chao, seizing his chance, sank his little sharp teeth into the hedgehog's thumb. He yelped in surprise and pain. The chao grinned, standing protectively over the crisp bowl, as if daring Sonic to try and take it again.

"Clove!" exclaimed Sam.

"He started it," the chao protested, pointing an accusing chao-paw at Sonic. "Anyway, do you want to know or not?" He continued before either of them could answer. "That person's been again. The one with the half-breed chao." Out of Sonic's sight, Sam shot a frown at the chao.

Sonic looked questioning. "Half breed?"

"A chao that's both light and dark," Sam explained. "It's very rare. As a matter of fact, it hasn't been heard of before." Sonic knew that chao were either light, dark or normal. Light types were white tinted with blue: angelic looking, with a blue halo replacing their life-force sphere and golden wings. Dark chao were black and red with a pointed tail and a squiggle head. These types were extremely mischievous and their life-force sphere was spiked. "Their owner is the benefactor of this chao garden, you see. They bring us money every so often, heaps of it too."

He was curious. "Who are they?"

It was Clove who replied. "She doesn't know. They just turn up in this shimmery cloak. They've never even given us a proper name."

Sonic raised an eyebrow. Sam sighed. "Weird, isn't it? I'm not in a position to dispute them though. I mean, if they're bringing in money to help the chao, I'm not complaining about them being a little ... eccentric."

"Eccentric? That's plain suspicious."

"I know, I know. But what can I do? These chao need care, and that person provides the cash for it. Not all of the chao have owners who pay for them to be kept here after all, and I'm able to keep the price low for people who want to bring their chao here the way the set-up is now. It's how it should be."

Her argument was persuasive, and Sonic shrugged. "I guess so. It just seems strange to me." He did not notice, but Sam seemed relieved that he had stopped questioning her about it.

Smoothly, the opaline hedgehog changed the conversation. "So, how's, what's his name, Knuckles?"

"Oh fine, fine. At least, he was last time I saw him, and that was a month or two ago now. He's been doing a heap of renovation on the Floating Island recently. No time for visitors," he added, with the air of one who has been greatly injured.

She smiled. "No? Too bad." Sam thought for a moment, trying to remember the remaining one of Sonic's friends that she had made the acquaintance of. Ah, she had it. "What about that bat friend of yours? She was sweet, I liked her."

Sonic's face clouded over. "She's not our friend any more," he said, waspishly. Sam blinked, surprised, though she refrained from questioning him about it; it was something which he obviously did not wish to discuss.

"I like your shoes," she told him, partly trying to diffuse the negative atmosphere that her previous comment had elicited, partly because she did actually admire them.

Like his previous shoes, they were in red and white, though these ones had a neon green strip running round the back, over a white covering. They were also differently shaped, having a raised part to the middle of the sole.

"Thanks," said Sonic, looking pleased. "I got them for my last birthday. My old shoes were good, but I'd practically worn them into the ground with all the running I do. I mean, they're built especially to withstand high speeds, but even they can only take so much of Sonic velocity. Still, they'd lasted me quite a few years. These ones are basically the same design as the old ones, but the company's upgraded them several times since my last pair. You should see all the stunts I can pull with them; I haven't had the chance to try half of them out yet, either. They came with a manual a couple of hundred pages thick." He grinned. "But yep, pretty darn cool."

Samantha smiled. Sonic really was into his shoes, in more ways than one.

The others were talking about their arrival in Sapphire City, explaining to Amy about Tails being attacked and Sonic's heroic quick thinking with the bi-plane. Sonic and Samantha broke off their conversation to listen, as Sam was curious about it too.

Upon hearing about Tails being hit by something, preventing him from rescuing Sonic, Samantha sighed deeply, shaking her head. "That'd be one of the gulls," she said. "They're getting to be real pests around the coast lately. They sometimes attack bathers, although not too often. If they thought you were invading their airspace though ... It's a shame no one had warned you. You could have been in even more trouble."

They continued in the telling, Amy squealing in horror and Sam gasping with concern when they reached the part where Sonic nearly fell. Gratified by the attention that he was receiving, the blue hedgehog told this part himself, exaggerating everything just a little. When he had finished with his part, he graciously allowed Citras to finish off.

Citras, who was not used to embroidering tales, summed it up in a single sentence. "I took Tails back to shore and found Sonic there."

"How come you weren't unconscious too?" asked Samantha, curiously. "I mean, if Tails was carrying you at the time and he was out for the count ....?"

There was a pause, as the three Freedom Fighters tried to think up some excuse. "Um, have you ever been to Green Hill? It's a really, uh, green place." Samantha gave Sonic a raised eyebrow look, and he glanced down, looking a little embarrassed.

"I'm an android," Citras explained. He would have had to have told them eventually, he reasoned to himself. A pity it had to be this soon though.

The two girl hedgehogs took it better than he had expected they would. "Really? You don't look like an android, although I'm far from being an expert," commented Sam, genially. Amy, of course, would never dream of thinking that Sonic could possibly keep 'bad company'.

Later, they went for a walk around the city, to show Citras the sites, most notable of all the place where Sonic had first met Chaos. Tails was doubtful that his friend even remembered the exact spot still, though he had to admit it made a good story. It was much better than the fox's "Look, this is where I crashed the Tornado and Sonic had to come and rescue me.". Sometimes the hedgehog had all the luck.

***

Robotnik was doing his smile again. This time, however, it was not for quite the same reasons as before. He was standing, or rather sitting in front of a huge set of sliding metal doors that looked both daunting and impenetrable. To him though, they were neither of those two things.

The scientist was what some cruel people may have called housed inside a grey walker, with two powerful legs and a ready artillery of weapons. Along its sides were the black and yellow striped warning strips that you get in factories, or other places where banging your head against something is a bad idea. It had little other colouring, save for a red lined flashlight mounted upon the front. A small clear screen at the front provided all the cover that he would need in the vehicle. After all, it would take something very powerful to survive the weapons.

Leaning his bulbous figure over, he reached out and tapped a command into the keypad at the side of the doors. Almost instantaneously, they slid noiselessly open. Suspicious despite the precautions that he had taken, Robotnik hesitated before taking up the controls of his walker - the Eggwalker - and manovering it with ease through the door. Its large figure gave no hint as to the agility with which it perform almost any given task.

As he moved towards the next door, nobody was in sight; no indignant voice questioned him. It was almost too simple, and his fears deepened: what if they were waiting for him further in, to attack him en force? No, no, that was impossible. He had to stop being so paranoid. Nobody could possibly know that he was inside: he had timed everything so completely and absolutely that unless someone was late for their shift somewhere, he would not meet anybody. It was unlikely that they would be late too, since the organisation had very strict rules and regulations for conduct, and were not at all tolerant of people who could not be punctual. It was almost a shame. He would quite relish a chance to show off the firepower of his great machine.

It was at about the fifth door that blocked his way that things started to go wrong. His confidence made him careless, which was probably the reason behind his mis-tapping the code for the door. A mere number in the incorrect order, and all the alarms burst into life, whining and howling like electronic dogs.

His smile vanished as he hastily tapped in the right code. The doors slid open, but the damage was already done. Robotnik realised that he was going to have to fight his way through this one. In his mind, he tried to justify his 'mistake' to himself. Of course, it had been his subconscious that had got the code wrong; his supreme brain could never have made such a thing as an error. Yes, it had been his subconscious telling him to do it, so that he would have an opportunity to put his Eggwalker through its paces. That sounded right. The smile returned, tainted with relief that he had solved that discrepancy.

Even as the doors greased across, the corridor beyond was filling with sleek and deadly robots. Upon their chests was emblazoned the initials G.U.N., showing them to the property of the most efficient and ruthless government military organisation on the whole of Mobius. Dotted amongst these were one or two human officials, the same initials branded in leather upon the backs of their uniforms.

Without a second thought, he put the full power of the Eggwalker into motion. Humans and robots alike were blasted aside in the face of the firepower blazing and firing from his machine. His grin broadened. Nothing could stand in the way of his walker, he thought, happily, as another missile found its mark in an authoritative looking robot. This should hardly take any time at all, the way it was going. Still, he reprimanded himself, no need to congratulate his genius just yet - that was when he would be most at risk of making another, more fatal, mistake. Unfortunately, gloating was one of the things he enjoyed most, and self-denial was not one of his best points.

With unconcealed pleasure, he noted that the corridor was now completely cleared of any resistance. Only the smouldering remains of most of the robots and one or two of the humans who had been too slow or too stubborn to flee were left. That would teach them to mess with him, he thought, triumphantly. According to the map of the facilities that sprang up at a jab of the controls, he did not have far to go to reach his goal.

Project: Shadow, the screen read. Well, that did not tell him too much. From what he could gather from his grandfather's untidy scrawl (bad handwriting ran in the family), the project was in fact much more special than it actually sounded. 'The ultimate lifeform' Professor Gerald Robotnik had called it. His excitement had led him to many guesses, some too large to be possible for the size of the base. Still, size was not everything, as he well knew, being skilled with mechanisms. The smallest thing could set off an impressive explosion. He had to admit though, he was expecting something quite large if it was to be the ultimate form of life. Something the size of a Mobian say would just not satisfy his expectations.

He wondered how long it would be before the next squad of G.U.N. soldiers arrived, or the original set took to regroup. The initial team had arrived with unnerving speed, it was true. However, they might not have been expecting to need to use any more soldiers than that. Therefore it might take some time before the next lot came onto the scene.

Robotnik thumbed the pad of the last door, and it slid back, revealing an immense room beyond. Studded panelling, garishly coated wires, neon lights, and steel girders made up the backdrop for the main object of interest in the room: the central structure. It was covered in many buttons and mysterious looking controls, then there was a tall tower behind it, stretching up towards the ceiling. What was at the top, it was hard to say.

Gleefully, he made the Eggwalker run across the distance between him and the control panels in its bounding strides. The gap closed, he proceeded to type a long series of commands into the panel. He did not even need to look at his screen for reference: he had made sure to memorise the code beforehand. His hand was trembling as he keyed in the final numbers. What if it was all to go wrong now, after he had come so far? Or, even worse, if there turned out to be no 'Ultimate Lifeform' and it was merely some jest of his grandfather's making?

Nothing happened. Unsure what to expect, he sank back into his seat, sweat trickling down his face. He did not notice the dark shape standing upon the tower high above him.

"Greetings."

He sat up startled, looking about him to see who had spoken. Glancing upwards, he froze, seeing only the dark figure of a hedgehog. Of course, having been thwarted by Sonic on numerous occasions, he automatically jumped to conclusions.

"Not you," he moaned. "Not now. Why do you always have to come along and spoil everything?" Already his hand was moving towards the controls, ready to fire a missile at the slightest whim.

With an easy leap, the hedgehog jumped from the very top of the tower, landing frog-legged at the bottom. He did not even appear to be jarred by the drop.

At this distance, Robotnik immediately saw his mistake: this hedgehog was not Sonic at all. He was not very different though, so his error could easily be excused. This hedgehog was black, with red stripes that were tinted orange, along with disconcerting red eyes. His chest was furry, unlike Sonic's, and white. He wore the same white gloves, though with red, black and gold handcuffs. The same design was on the top of his shoes, which were black and white, with red and yellow pocked soles.

The apparition stared coolly at him, obviously waiting for him to speak. "Who are you?" Robotnik demanded, recovering from his initial fright.

"I am the ultimate lifeform," the hedgehog told him. His voice was not unnatural, as one might have expected considering his claim. It was as normal as Sonic's. He continued in the same tone. "As for my name, which I think was the actual meaning of your question, I am called Shadow."

"You are the ultimate lifeform?" Robotnik scoffed, sneering at him. There was something about Shadow that cut him short though; perhaps it was the indifferent regard with which the hedgehog held him.

"I am. You did just awaken me, did you not?" The hedgehog directed an air of superiority over the human. Why was he wasting his time with him? This creature was not worthy of talking to the ultimate lifeform. No, no, he was not being fair. If the human had succeeded in passing all of the defence systems and guards that had imprisoned him, then he had to possess some degree of intelligence. He would hear him out, he decided.

"Yes, yes," he snapped, impatiently. "I was hoping for some creature that would help me. I did not bargain for some ... some Mobian."

Shadow ignored this. "To help you to do what, pray?"

Robotnik was not the most secretive of people, nor the most cautious. "To regain possession of this planet," he informed him, bluntly.

"Are you saying that you do not believe that I would be able to achieve such a thing?" Robotnik hesitated. He knew firsthand the devastation that one hedgehog could wreck. Shadow, however, took this as a confirmation of his statement. "Find me anything to test my skill against, and I will do so. You will find that one creature ... one Mobian creature, by creation if not by birth, is not automatically some kind of pushover."

At that moment, there was a loud crash, and the doors were knocked inwards, bending from the pressure applied as if they were made of some much more flexible substance. This sound droned inharmoniously with a digital cry of "Security breach! Security breach! Seek and destroy!"

Robotnik muttered some curse-word under his breath. What had seemed to be a perfect plan was swiftly being ruined by, as he thought, the incompetence of others.

The robot was at least triple the size of a fully-grown human, and consisted of two large mechanical legs, bigger than the machine's actual body, which was roughly triangular in shape. The feet had three mock-toes that spread out on the ground when it put them down, helping it to keep its balance. It was heavily armoured, with a wealth of artillery, including an effective looking energy beam cannon built in to its front, and a double set of missile compartments. There was a cockpit in the machine, for the occasion when it needed to be controlled by a human. As it had some artificial intelligence programmed into it - admittedly about as much as in a computer game - it did not strictly need a person behind its controls. What else it did remained to be seen. It was easy to tell the name of the machine, as it was painted upon nearly every available surface: B-3x. The fighter was also known as Hot Shot, and was a member of the Spider troop.

Upon seeing Shadow, Hot Shot grew more excited. "The Shadow creature has escaped!" it cried. "Seek and destroy! Seek and destroy!"

Robotnik wondered wryly about its limited vocabulary, as well as its ability to turn every sentence into an exclamation. Still, the robot looked pretty vicious. For the first time, doubt began to creep into his mind over whether or not he would be able to beat this opponent.

Luckily for him, he never found out. Shadow ran straight at Hot Shot, taking it by surprise. It fired an energy beam at random, completely failing to hit the speeding hedgehog. Robotnik was impressed. He had never seen any creature but Sonic run that fast. Shadow curled into a spinning ball of spikes and rammed the robot as hard as he could in what would probably pass for its midriff.

Despite its size and weight, it fell backwards, losing its balance: he had hit it at its weak point. This did not daunt it however, as it fired up its hover jets, taking to the air. A second later, the fight had become a show of agility; Hot Shot wheeling about, firing energy beams from its cannon, while Shadow dodged and dived, never once faltering. Judging by the closeness of the blasts, the cannon had a lock-on feature that enabled it to home in on its target. Never once did it manage to so much as scorch its opponent, and it returned to using its feet instead.

Before it had even landed, Shadow had executed a 90 degree turn and came racing back, smashing into it once more with a painful crack of some vital mechanism. The machine slowed, an electronic version of winded. Shadow sped at him once more, ready to deal the killing blow. Without warning, a missile fired, just skimming below his shoes as he jumped smoothly into the air to avoid it. The robot was not given another chance to save itself.

The fight was over, as was clear to the one and only spectator. Robotnik watched as the robot swayed once or twice, then crashed to the floor. One of its legs detached itself as it fell, skidding several yards away from its owner before coming to a stop.

Not a spike out of place, Shadow walked sedately over to him, only making eye contact when he was close enough for it to have the full effect. "Well?"

"That was amazing," Robotnik admitted. "I haven't seen such a display of skill for a long time."

Shadow nodded: this was only to be expected. "Thank you." He spoke with the air of one granting a favour. He held his gaze for a moment longer, until the human was forced to look away, then turned, jogging towards the door.

Robotnik opened his mouth to speak, but he was interrupted by a loud demanding bleep from his com unit. It got the hedgehog's attention however, and he glanced back to see what had made the noise. Without really thinking what he was doing, the scientist hit the 'receive message' button.

Pip's voice came out, loud and clear. "It's me. As in me, being the person who I am, not me as in someone else." Robotnik tried to get his head around this, and failed. The robot bat's logic was purely her own, and nobody else's. "I would have got back to you earlier, but I had a kind of problem, as in somebody stood on my com unit. It was a kind of shame really, as it makes a great weapon, if you drop it from high enough. Anyway, I'm using Mecha's right now, since he's kindly lent it to me. So, did you want something?"

Pip had a habit of talking too fast at times, which made it a little hard to understand her when she was talking for long periods of time. This meant that Robotnik had to let his mind catch up with the words before replying. "I did contact you, but this is an inconvenient time for me-"

"Well, it was an inconvenient time for me," retorted Pip. "I bet they won't even give me the title now."

He did not bother to ask what she was referring to. Time was short on his hands. "I'll contact you again later," he replied. "Stay at base for now."

"Fine then, sentence me to boredom." She cut off.

Since Robotnik was looking down at the com while conversing with the bat, he did not notice Shadow's change of expression. The hedgehog stared fascinated at it, old memories flooding back to him.

__

A dying human girl, reaching out a hand to him. The other hand was clasped to her bosom, trying without success to stave the endless flow of red liquid. Unbidden, a quote sprang to his mind: 'Who would have thought that she had so much blood in her?' Her face was pale from loss of blood, and she looked tired, ever so tired: Shadow knew in his heart that she was close to death. The girl's hair was fair; the blue aliceband that usually kept it so tidily in place was knocked askew. Her eyes were the colour of forget-me-nots, ironic really, for there was no way that he would ever forget her or her friendship as long as he lived.

"I can't leave you," he whispered, fiercely. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of the still corpses of those who had dared to harm his friend. He had destroyed them in rage, but now that was gone, there was only an empty hollowness inside him: sadness.

She shook her pretty head, smiling wanly at him. "Look on the bright side; at least you've got a chance to visit Mobius now you haven't got me to worry about." She had to stop here, turning her head sideways, trying to prevent him seeing the blood that she was coughing up. The girl turned back, and her eyes were misty, clouded over. Her face was serious now, trying to convey the urgency of what she was saying. "Please Shadow. Do it for me. Promise me-"

There the vision ended. The hedgehog's hands curled. "Maria," he said softly to himself, a strange look of sorrow passing across his face. He would keep his promise, he thought. A promise of revenge upon all those people who had so cruelly torn her life away from her.

His mind returning to the present, he spoke aloud to Robotnik. "Who was that?" he demanded. It was Maria, he thought. It had to be. The voice had been hers to the life and breath.

The human did not look concerned. He did not understand his urgency, Shadow thought, angrily. "Oh, just Pip," he said. "She works for me. When she can be bothered," he added, darkly. Remembering his previous train of thoughts, he continued hurriedly. "Now that I've freed you, you are going to help me aren't you?"

Shadow hesitated. This human could help him to get his revenge, he was sure. The clinching thing though was the mysterious 'Pip'. He wished to meet this person who had the voice of Maria. "Meet me on the bridge of the greatest space colony ever created. Meet me on ARK," Shadow told him, then was gone.


	2. Justice and Evil

_________________________________  
Chapter 2: Justice and Evil  
~The shattering of the Master Emerald~  
_________________________________

A black, white and purple figure strode through the jungle shrubbery, ostensibly without a care in the world. The creature's ears were larger than most, and it also had dragon-like wings of purple and black. She, for a she it was, was dressed in demurely black trousers and a purple tight-fitting top. Upon her feet were purple and white high-heeled boots, and she wore long gloves that reached up to her elbows. Her hair was cut so that it spiked out a little at the back, though with no fringe. The inside of her ears, her face, and her body were all a creamy ochre shade. She had used up a large amount of mascara upon eyes, the irises of which were a light green colour.

Her tread was light, although some purpose might have been perceived by the determined gleam in her eyes. She was a bounty hunter by trade, specialising in precious stones. They attracted her like a magnet, and she could never resist adding just one more to her already extensive collection.

That, of course, was why she was here, upon the Floating Island. This place, she knew, was home to one of the largest gems ever recorded: the Master Emerald. Such a shame that it was supposed to be guarded, she thought, but she was sure she could deal with any guards. After all, if she was renowned for her services (at a fee) for others, why should she not be able to steal just one gem for herself?

She moved more stealthily now, as she neared a clearing in the jungle. "Boy, but isn't this place dense?" she murmured aloud. At first sight the jungle had seemed the perfect method of entry; now however she was not so sure. It was certainly an easy place to get lost in, despite her having an excellent sense of direction. Finally, it seemed like she had had a lucky break.

Sighing with relief, and wiping away the sweat that had been trickling down her face with one hand, she stepped out of the foliage. Without really thinking, she began fanning herself with her wings. However, the change in temperature was almost instantaneous, and she found herself nearly shivering, even though the warmth was at a normal level outside the jungle.

The creature had stepped into what appeared to be a ruined temple or shrine, left over from aeons ago. Great stone pillars, or at least what remained of them, were sprawled about upon the overgrown- No, she corrected herself. The ruins were not overgrown with grass as one might expect. Instead, they looked well tended to. Somebody obviously cared a lot for the place, by the looks of it.

Her trained eyes swept the landscape before her, searching for any people who might raise an objection at her presence on the Island. What she saw completely threw her, and she moved closer, curious. Glowing a bright green, flashing brilliantly in the sunlight, was what could be nothing else but the Master Emerald. How had it got all the way out here? she wondered. She had been under the impression that it was in a place called Hidden Palace. Was somebody else trying to steal it? Whatever the reason, this opportunity was too good to waste.

As she stepped up to the gem, a voice hailed her. She nearly jumped: so focused had she been on the Master Emerald that she had not noticed anyone else approaching. Still, she knew her ability to get out of most tricky situations with ease. Smiling slightly to herself, she turned to face the newcomer.

Knuckles raced up to the Master Emerald, blood pounding in his ears. From some distance away he had seen that somebody was by it, and had broken all his previous running records to get there before anything happened to the gem. What was somebody doing near his Master Emerald? His eyes narrowed with fury. When he reached the spot, he was still calm enough to check what kind of creature it was, and if he recognised it from Knothole. He did not want to jump to conclusions and pummel an innocent Freedom Fighter. However, he recognised neither who the creature was, nor its species. The one thing he could be certain of beyond a doubt was its gender.

"What are you?" he demanded, glowering at her, skidding to a halt on the other side of the Master Emerald from the girl.

She clicked her tongue, smiling disarmingly at him. "Can't you tell? You mean you've never seen a bat before?"

The Guardian frowned. Sure, he had seen Pip, but she was nothing like this creature. For one thing, he was pretty certain that bat's wings and their arms were one, and the girl had them separate. Still, he was not going to argue the point now. "What's your name, and what are you doing here?"

"State your name and your business," murmured the bat, smirking. "The name's Rouge, just Rouge. I'm here because this gem-" She indicated the Master Emerald. "-is mine."

Knuckles stared, surprised by her audacity. After a few seconds struggling to control his anger, he regained the power of speech. "It is not yours!"

The bat gave him what could loosely be described as a patronising smile. "Honey," she said. "All the gems in the world belong to me." Still smiling, she caressed the surface of the Master Emerald gently with one gloved hand.

The echidna scraped his knuckles together, agitatedly. Why could she not just go away? He always felt very insecure about any matters relating to the powerful stone. After all, it was what kept the Floating Island in the sky. Without it, they would be sunk, in more ways than one. Still, ever the gentlechidna, he made one last attempt at courtesy. "I'm sorry, but this Emerald is not up for grabs. Rouge."

"Well, I did find it. And y'know, it really is finder's keepers in this world, Knuckles, otherwise we'd never get anywhere."

"Anywhere being in a speeding truck with a horde of money stashed in the back, leaving wailing sirens and smashed windows behind you?" How did she know his name, anyway? Well, maybe that was not so unusual. It was not like he ever tried to hide it.

"Oh really, you do exaggerate." She put her arms around either side of the Master Emerald, tugging with all her strength, but she could not budge it. "Say, do you think you could give me a hand with this thing, honey?" she asked, sweetly.

Knuckles leapt at her, and the scene might have turned very nasty, if at that moment there had not been a distraction. From the heavens, there came a deep laugh. Both relinquished their grip on the Emerald, looking up in surprise. Having been engaged in more pressing matters, they had failed to notice the craft hovering in the air less than ten feet above their heads.

Robotnik had been flying cautiously over, and, seeing the Guardian arguing with a complete stranger, had stopped to look. He had been wary of flying over the Island, but it had been the quickest route. When in a hurry, he could see no reason for having to curve round to a point C when getting from A to B. Naturally, when he had caught sight of it, he was more interested in the Master Emerald than anything else. There it was, practically unguarded while Knuckles was otherwise engaged. It would be risky, certainly, to snatch it from right under the echidna's nose. What was risk though, when compared to a prize like the Master Emerald?

Now he had succeeded in fastening a grip chain to the top of the gem, he felt that it was time to notify the Mobians below of his presence. After all, he felt especially clever today, having broken into a military base and coming out without a scratch. The Eggwalker had folded its legs up, becoming a hover-capable vehicle of the skies. It was a much faster method of transport than most.

"Robotnik!" gasped Knuckles, his purple eyes kindling with rage at the sight of his adversary actually having hold of his Master Emerald.

He did not hear Rouge's curious murmur of "So that's Robotnik, is it? I hope he doesn't think he's going to get his hands on my pretty gem."

The scientist grinned broadly. "Say so long to your Master Emerald, Knuckles," he mocked. "How easy it was to get, after all these years of trying. Farewell then; enjoy your powerless Island."

The red echidna's reply was bellowed. "Never!" Crouching down on the ground, he sprang into the air with a stunning display of agility, his large fists swinging. The other two could only watch, disbelieving, as he connected hard with the Master Emerald. There was a moment of teetering silence, as if before a storm, then the shattering sound ripped through the air, as the Emerald broke into shards, and was flung in all directions.

Cheated of his prize, Robotnik was not going to sit around any longer, especially since Knuckles had managed to get the better of him. With a last muttered "Rats." he took the controls and piloted himself away.

The Guardian landed, feet apart on the ground. He felt almost relieved, although he knew it was far from over: he would still need to collect all the pieces. At least he had prevented Robotnik from getting it; that was the main thing. Unfortunately, someone else did not appear to share his views.

"What the heck did you do that for, you cretin?" exclaimed Rouge, grabbing him by the neck and shaking him viciously. "Look what you've gone and done: you've broken my lovely Emerald!"

"It's not your Emerald," spluttered Knuckles, trying desperately to remove the choking hands from around his throat. "As I keep telling you. Anyway, I had to do that to save it from Robotnik. Would you want him to have got it?" With a final wrench, he managed to tear her hands away.

The bat sighed deeply, starting to turn and walk away. "Quit making excuses. Now I'm going to have to go and find all those shards and put them back together again."

The echidna clenched his fists tightly; inside his gloves, his knuckles began to go white. "Not if I do it first," he yelled after her.

She turned back to him one last time, what she described as her 'seductive smile' upon her face once more. "You're on," she told him.

Then, the two creatures went their separate ways, each as determined as the other that they would be the first to recover the pieces of the Master Emerald.

***

Sonic snorted in dismissal. The group had taken a day out to the local theme park, aptly - if not inventively - named Twinkle Park. Amy had just suggested to Sonic that they had a go at the kart racing. She had also suggested that she thought that they would make a great team on the doubles, which was what he had found so disagreeable.

Still, it might be fun, he thought, reading the sign that depicted wild adventures on highly improved karts across arid landscapes, far much more exciting than the comparatively tame track provided. Despite the old sign, it was the latest hi-tech version on the market. It possessed an inviting striped tarmac track, not to mention having speed boosters placed at convenient intervals.

"Okay, but I'm taking a single kart." That would prevent the silly pink hedgehog from trying to wheedle her way into sharing one with him.

Amy's face was downcast. "Oh, but Sonic, they won't let me on this ride without someone over the age of 13." Amy was now only a few months off hitting that age, while Tails had only just passed it. the blue hedgehog thought that this was rather convenient, although he did feel a little guilty. "It's because of the speed boosters," she added, dismally.

Guessing that Sonic was on the verge of doing something that he was strongly against, Citras gallantly stepped into the breach. "Well, how about if you came with me then, huh?"

Amy perked up immediately. She had taken to Citras like he was her big brother; something Sonic thought that the android was in fact rather grateful for. He was so used to people hero-worshipping him for no good reason that he was sick of it. "Okay then, City." Citras winced at the variation of his name. There was, of course, a downside to this.

The others all chose single carts. They waited in the queue for a small eternity, then finally stepped lightly into the sleek karts. Whether by luck or by judgement, they all got into cars with a jag down the side of their own colour, or at least nearly their own colour. Sonic had a dark blue one, Samantha a light sky colour, Tails orange, while Citras and Amy had pink. The latter was definitely decided upon by the young girl hedgehog, who let out a squeal of delight and dragged Citras to it.

Feeling as though they were in some kind of futuristic movie, they strapped themselves in, remembering to fasten their customisable safety helmets on. Customisable because Mobians - and humans - could come in many different shapes and sizes, or have ears or anatomical details in varied places. After this they sat, feet poised above the accelerators, ready to shoot off when the light changed to green.

The red light disappeared, flicking down to the orange one below, then the green. "Go!" yelled an automated voice, then they were off.

Sonic turned the first corner then slammed down on the accelerator, his kart shooting across the straight stretch. Another twist in the track approached. Spinning the wheel mercilessly, the tyres leaving a skid mark and an acrid smell of burnt rubber, he shot round it. Not as fast as he was, but he had to admit the kart was "Kinda nifty", as Tails had put it. He grinned as he shot the first ramp, landing with a jolt on the other side, then proceeded to take the next set just as fast. The sight of the kart bumping up and down in rapid succession might have amused some spectators.

Indeed, there were some people watching the racing from the side of the track, behind the barriers. One of them, garbed in a shimmering purpley-blue hood and cloak, pointed Sonic out. "He's the one." The human who the figure was talking to was dressed in a military uniform. He was of high rank too, if the neat display of badges pinned to his front was anything to go by.

"Are you sure?"

"What do you want me to do? Kiss him?"

The man shrugged, signalling to an attaché of soldiers. "We'll wait by the exit for him to come out. The Project won't be on the loose for long. Don't worry citizen." He turned on his heel and led the group away.

"Citizen?" muttered the figure, in disgust. "I'm sure this citizen's eternally grateful that there's all those jerks in uniform to protect us from harm."

The gold chao perched on the rail by her side glanced back at the racetrack. "I suppose he doesn't know who you are. Maybe his nice shiny badges don't mean that much."

"I've got a collection of foil shinier than his badges."

"Then I guess they aren't telling the lower ranks about your involvement."

"Fine, fine." Their outlines flickered blue for a second, then they were gone: vanished into thin air.

Back on the track, Sonic had nearly completed his first lap. Apart from one time when Tails had come near him, he had not seen any of the others. A shame, really. On this racecourse you were permitted to ram people, which, in his opinion, added greatly to the fun and excitement. So far he had only got to do it to the orange fox, which was probably why he had not seen him again. Wizard with machines though he was, it would take even him a while to get out of that spin. Still, at least one of the others should have caught him up by now. He whizzed through the flashing lights of the starting line.

"Jeez, everybody's really slow today," he complained aloud.

No sooner were the words out of his mouth then something hit him from behind, nearly causing him to lose control of the vehicle. As it was, he was slammed side on into the wall, rattling all the bones in his body.

Laughing, Samantha passed him, waving a farewell with one hand. "Who's slow, Sonic?"

The blue hedgehog stared for a moment in surprise, then smiled to himself at the prospect of competition. Maybe this race was not to be as straightforward as he had first assumed. His reactions kicked in, and he slammed down as hard as he could on the accelerator, nearly driving his foot through the floor. The kart surged forward, going from nothing to maximum velocity in seconds.

Neck and neck the two karts bounded in their strange fashion over the ramps, curving up and round, moving with the track. Both of them had raced upon it before now, privately thinking with quiet confidence that they knew every twist and turn that it could throw at them.

At this point the track split in two; they both took separate routes. Sonic was not sure which was the faster route to take, if they were not of equal distance, so he ground down the accelerator for all he was worth. He doubted that the sleek vehicle could go any faster. His track was curved, though flat. He knew that Samantha's had been straight though it was more of a bridge; going up and over.

It took only a few seconds for him to reach the part where the two tracks to met again. A swift glance to his right saved him from another ramming by the opaline hedgehog. He spun the wheel frantically, skidding diagonally in front of her kart as she crossed over to his side of the track. The result of this was that they had, in effect, swapped places.

"Still think you're going to win?" she called across to him, grinning wickedly, winking at him.

Sonic winked back. "You betcha."

Several times around the next (and final) lap, they tried to ram each other, each time with no success. Finally, they gave up on that idea, keeping their karts level with each other, the sides of the vehicles practically touching. Each was focusing all their concentration on keeping up their speed. The finish line should be looming up on the horizon any second now. There it was; they could just see it. They were only a few yards away from winning the race. Gunning the engines, they shot along, their breath bated. Which of them would manage to gain that extra centimetre? Or would it be a draw? Nothing could distract them, so avid was their focus.

This was why it came as a complete shock to both hedgehogs when they were hit suddenly and mercilessly from behind. They both let out yells of surprise: they had certainly not been expecting that. The two went careering off in opposite directions, crashing into the length of tyres that lined the track sides to prevent serious injury. 

Looking up, groaning, they were just in time to see Amy and Citras streak past them in their double kart; the first to complete the race. "We did it! We did it!" they heard Amy shrieking. Tails followed their lead a few seconds later, halting his kart with a neat little skid behind the winners'. The two hedgehogs exchanged shamefaced looks, though they were unable to keep from smiling. Reversing their karts, they drove them over the finish line together, finishing up in joint third place.

"Did you see that?" Amy was telling Tails as Sonic and Sam joined them, still looking a little embarrassed. "We beat Sonic and my sis!" Seeing her hero, she gave him a huge hug. "Are you proud of me, huh?" The blue hedgehog declined from commenting for a moment or two, as he was too busy looking around to see if there was anyone who had seen Amy hug him. At least, anyone who knew him. Breathing a sigh of relief, he came to the conclusion that nobody had.

"Uh, yeah. Real great," he told her.

"Well done," her sister added, appraisingly. "You're getting really good at this." The others added on their congratulations to the young hedgehog.

The five then walked over to the prize counter, where Amy proceeded to tell the man behind the counter how she had beaten Sonic and her sister. The human gave the two sympathetic grins, then brought out a silver pen and a red rosette. He shook the pen once or twice to make sure it was working, writing the pink hedgehog's name on the rosette in a beautiful style.

They thanked him, then left through the polished turnstile. Amy was still dancing around, showing everyone her rosette, by force if necessary. Sonic stepped out first, then stopped dead, the barrel of a gun aimed at his head. The others, who had been chattering away, gradually stopped, becoming aware that something was wrong.

"Sonic?" asked Sam, cautiously. "Do you know this guy?"

He was a human, the commander of the squad who had been watching them race before. Looking grim, he flicked the safety catch off. "You're coming with us, Mr. Hedgehog. Any attempts to resist will be dealt with most severely."

The blue hedgehog glanced back at his friends, who were staring at the man, open mouthed. He couldn't risk anything that might endanger them, not even Amy. He swallowed to wet his mouth before he spoke: it seemed to have gone dry. "Okay," he said, raising his hands. "I'll go with you." He tried to make eye contact with them, trying to tell them without words that he would be okay, and that they need not worry. Inside, he felt a lot less than certain about those things. Then he was led away, sandwiched in the middle of the pack of hard-faced humans.

The others watched them go, stunned. Without warning, Amy started to cry, breaking the silence with her mournful sobs. She resorted to crying only when she felt the situation was beyond her, as she did now. Putting her hand on her sister's shoulder to comfort her, Samantha spoke to the others in a low voice. "Do you know who those guys were? Have you ever seen them before?"

They shook their heads. "They can't have been the police," Tails said. "Otherwise they'd have said 'I warn you that anything you say may be used against you as evidence later', or something like that."

"They're G.U.N.," Amy sniffled. "I saw it on the back of their uniforms when they took him away."

Sam went pale. "G.U.N.?" She hastened to explain to two Freedom Fighters what was wrong with this. "They're this military government force. If they've taken Sonic, then this is more serious than I'd thought. They must think that he's committed some crime or something."

Amy shook her head. "Sonic would never do anything like that."

Sam rubbed her back gently. "Of course he wouldn't. They've got the wrong hedgehog, obviously."

Citras thought for a moment. "Do you think we might be able to shadow them?"

"I'll go," said Tails, instantly. "It'll be more obvious what we're doing if we all follow them. Besides, I'm used to this from when we used to run missions in Robotropolis." Without waiting for an answer, he jogged lightly away, moving lightly around the groups of people. The others could not think of anything that they could do to help. Instead, they just stood there, waiting for Tails to return, shivering with the sudden cold.

***

Tails darted past people busy enjoying the theme park, wishing that they would be less laid back. They should move out of his way quicker. Did they not know how important his mission was? Luckily, he was a nimble fox, able to dodge and skip around people with ease. It was not too hard to keep the soldiers in sight. Being in a platoon, they were much easier to spot than if there had been only one or two of them. Also, they seemed to leave a large space around them wherever they moved: people were unwilling to go too close to them. Tails did not blame them.

The soldiers did not seem to notice the fox following them. There were too many other people moving about in the crowd for them to single out one person tracking. Tails was also something of an expert at that sort of work as he had said. He had been in much more dangerous pursuits than this, with perhaps higher penalties.

He followed them out of the tall gates of Twinkle Park, down the street. They took an abrupt turn into an alleyway. Tails hesitated - did they know that they were being tracked? Was that why they had gone down there. Whatever the reason, he could not risk losing Sonic. He thought of using his twin tails, flying to the rooftops to chase them. However, he ruled that out as attracting too much attention; something he definitely did not want.

Cautiously, he poked his furry face around the corner. There they were, disappearing round a bend. He narrowed his eyes. They were not going to get away from him so easily. He raced down the alley, his tails twirling, adding just that little bit extra to his speed. The ground was flat and he covered it quickly. Again, he stopped at the end to peer around the corner. Unfortunately for him, he looked at the same moment as one of the soldiers glanced back over his shoulder.

Hurriedly, Tails pulled back, though the damage had already been done. Helplessly he looked about him, looking for somewhere to hide. There was only a pile of wooden crates that he could crouch behind, nothing else. Feeling like a cornered rodent, he lay down flat on his stomach behind the wooden boxes, wishing his heart to beat more quietly. He was almost certain that the soldier would not be able to hear it, but it still sounded unnervingly loud to his sensitive ears.

The noisy clump-clump-clump of military boots reached his ears: the soldier returning to see if he could find the creature that had been spying on them. Through a crack between the crates, the fox could see his boots come into sight then stop, inches away from his hiding place. They were patent leather, he noticed, before realising what a stupid observation it was under the circumstances.

The feet shifted closer. He was going to be found, he thought, sweat pouring down his face. What did they do to spies? Was he going to be shot? Surely not? They would not shoot a child. At least, that was what he hoped.

A hand came down on the top of the crates. Tails felt his whole body trembling. He could not bear the tension: it was far worse than any attack would have been. If he was going to be discovered, why could the human not just hurry up and do it? It was agony not knowing what was going to happen.

Suddenly, there was a chirpy squeak and the fox heard something hit the alley between him and the man. All he could see was a tiny pair of orange feet and the silvery bottom of a small body. It must be a chao, he realised. The human did not move for a moment, then, to Tails's disbelief, he turned and began walking away. "Just a chao," he heard him mutter. "Nothing to worry about."

The orange fox sagged to the ground, tense no longer. He was alive. The human had gone. There was nothing to worry about any more. Tails decided that he was not going to move until several minutes had passed though: he was not willing to take any more risks. However, this vow was broken when he saw a large pair of orange eyes staring at him through the crack. He sat up, blinking once or twice in surprise.

Then the owner of the orange eyes leapt up onto the top of the crates: it was the chao. How could he have forgotten his saviour so soon? The chao's head and body were silver, while his arms, feet and eyes were orange. He was unusual from any that Tails had seen before in one respect: he was, most definitely, a robot. An easy way of telling this would have been by his clockwork mechanism instead of the normal life-force sphere. Another would have been by his obviously mechanical body.

He walked up to Tails and grinned down at him. "Aren't you going to say thank you? I just saved your life, after all." The fox stammered his thanks: he had not yet got his voice under control.

"I've g-got to g-get after S-Sonic. I need to s-see where they're taking him."

"Not like that you don't," the chao told him. "You're shivering still. They'd spot you in an instant. 'Sides, there isn't any point. I already know where they're going. You're not the only one who was following them, y'know." He winked. "Why don't we get you back to where you're staying? You'll feel better then."

Tails breathed deeply, managing to speak calmly once more. "No, I've got to go back to Sam and the others." He noticed the chao's momentary look of surprise. "What's up?"

"Oh, nothing. It's just that my owner's called Sam. She works at a chao garden. The same?" Tails nodded excitedly. "Okay then, suits me down to the ground. Which isn't very far," he admitted, looking down. "Chao aren't exactly tall."

Tails offered to carry him back, feeling it was the least he could do. The chao gratefully accepted. "What's your name?" Tails asked, as they emerged from the dark alley, returning into the sunshine world of the main street. "I'm Miles Prower, but everyone calls me Tails. I think you can guess why."

"Yasani."

"I haven't heard that name before."

"It's AE for riot, I think." AE was the abbreviated word for the language of the Ancient Echidnas. "Nobody actually calls me Yasani though, it's just what it says on official papers. Everyone just calls me Riot. I wonder why?" he added, smirking mischievously. Tails smiled back. He had taken a liking to this bold little chao.

It did not take them long to reach the spot where Tails had left the others. They looked extremely relieved to see him; he had been gone for some time. He explained what had happened, and how Riot had saved him from the soldier.

"Riot was there?" asked Samantha, surprised.

"I'm here now," the chao told her, appearing as if from nowhere. He had of course just jumped down from Tails's arms. He had not allowed Tails to carry him too far, only past the careless feet of the larger creatures who were liable to tread on him. Riot held up his arms, and it was Sam, his mistress, who picked him up this time.

"Sam lets him roam free," Amy explained to the others. "He's a lot more intelligent than most of the chao and likes doing things for himself. Don't you, Riot?"

Riot smiled placidly.

"Riot's also an omochao, as you can probably tell." The chao nodded, verifying this statement.

"That means robot chao, right?"

Samantha gave the fox an appraising look that she reserved for anybody who knew anything about chao. "Omo is Ancient Echidna for robot."

"They actually had a word for robot?" Citras looked surprised. He knew that there could have been no robots in their time, or, at least, he thought he knew.

"Better believe it. Those guys had a word for practically everything."

"Did you find out where they were taking Sonic?" Citras asked, returning to the matter in hand.

Tails opened his mouth, unsure what to say. "They've taken him to a helicopter," the chao interrupted. "They're gonna fly him out to Prison Island."

Samantha groaned. "Could this get worse?"

"That name sounds like trouble," agreed Citras. "If only to the originality of the people who invented it."

"What are we going to do?" Amy wailed.

"The only thing we can do," her sister replied, grimly. "Go out there ourselves and rescue him."

***

The hedgehog was angry; angry at being made to look and feel like a common criminal. People in the roads blinked curiously at him, staring as if he was an exhibit in a zoo. He had not done anything to merit such treatment.

Sonic was manhandled roughly through the streets, across the quadrant, onto the launch pad where a helicopter awaited their arrival. It was large, long, grey, metal, sparsely decorated; in a word, ugly. Though the hedgehog did not have time to see it, it also had the initials G.U.N. printed on its side. They would not have meant anything to him at that moment in time anyway. The rotor blades were already spinning, ready for a swift take-off.

"Where are you taking me?" he demanded of his stony-faced attaché. He was trying to put a brave face on things, since he doubted that things could get much worse for him than they already were. Even so, these military humans scared him with their expressionless countenances and clockwork-like movements.

The response he received was as near to a bark as human mouths could produce. "Silence, criminal."

Great, he thought, miserably. It did not look as if he was going to get much information out of these people. What could they want of him? He racked his brains for an answer. The only idea he could come up with seemed quite feeble and pathetic: that they were working for Robotnik. He discounted it as improbable. As far as he knew, Robotnik did not get on well with other humans.

Rope was produced, and he was bound hand and foot. He was then shoved into the cockpit of the helicopter, next to the pilot. The pilot appeared younger looking than the soldiers, probably just out of her teen years. She looked more than a little nervous at being the transporter of such a supposedly dangerous creature, watching him with wide eyes as he was tied up. Her long golden hair flowed over her shoulders, drawing attention to her large blue eyes. She also wore glasses. Sonic, who generally thought of glasses as large rimmed cumbersome things had to allow himself on this occasion to be corrected. They were small, gold framed; almost pretty, if glasses could be. About where her fringe was she wore a pair of goggles, more for the look of it than anything else. The pilot smoothed out her hair, attempting to mask her fear.

"Don't let him give you any trouble," the lead soldier advised. "You have no idea what he is capable of."

The pilot nodded seriously, throwing off a smart salute. The soldiers stepped back, she threw the switches, and then they were off. At any other time, the blue hedgehog would have liked the gradual lifting sensation. Now though, it brought a sickening feeling to the pit of his stomach. Who knew where he was being taken? Smirking a little at his melodramatisism, he corrected himself. A lot of people, including the pilot, would know where he was going.

Two minutes into flight-time, counted by the ever-reliable 'One Mississippi, two Mississippi' method, the sprawling metropolis was left behind them. A district of hills and rocks was below; Sonic knew that they were near the coast, having been here before, though at ground level last time.

To ease his fears, he tried to make conversation with the pilot. "So, where are we going then?" She shot him a swift glance, seeming to reassure herself that he could not break free, then turned her concentration back to the flying. Sonic sighed. "Okay then, let's try an easier question. What's your name?"

A pause. "Alice. Alice Airam." Another pause, as if she was debating hard over whether or not to dare conversing any more with him. "What's yours?"

He was surprised. "You don't know?"

"No."

"You kidnap me, and you don't even know my name?"

"We haven't kidnapped you. You're under arrest, by orders of G.U.N.. It's my job to take you to a place where you'll be held securely." She spoke almost defensively.

"I'm called Sonic." Out of the many buzzing through his head, he tried to select which question to ask next. "Who is G.U.N., anyway?"

She smiled; another sign of humanity. "G.U.N.'s not any one person, it's a group of people; a government organisation. It stands for Government Undercover Network."

This was starting to make some sort of sense, Sonic thought. A crazy sort of sense, true, but sense all the same. "What do they want with me?"

"I don't know entirely," she confessed. "Although I'm pretty certain that it's to do with Project: Shadow. I'm only a pilot, you see. I don't get told about an awful lot that goes on." The subject on which she was talking reminded her of what Sonic was. She was shocked at herself: how had she come to give so much away to the dangerous criminal? Still, if he was who he was supposed to be, he would know most of the information requested already. Maybe he just wanted to find out how much information they knew on him. Well, at least she had had the sense to clam up about his identity.

He asked her more questions, only to find to his disgust that she refused to reply to them any more. Irked and no less worried than he had first been, he sank back into his seat, resigned to the long wait. The ropes around his wrists and ankles had been tied too tightly and were cutting into his flesh. Needless to say, this did nothing to improve his mood.

After five minutes of his brooding, there was a loud gasp from Alice. The helicopter dipped suddenly. Looking up, he saw to his surprise that she was fending off a large ugly looking gull. A memory struck Sonic: had Amy not said something about gulls attacking people around their airspace? Judging by the sheer size of this non-Mobian bird alone, he had to be high up in their ranking, perhaps even their king. After all, the black crest upon his head looked very much like a crown.

He was beating his wings furiously in her face, scratching with his uncharacteristically long claws and beak. She raised her hands to defend herself, meaning that there was now nothing to manoeuvre the vehicle on its course. Sonic risked a glance out, seeing to his horror a craggy rock looming up menacingly in front. He then looked down. To his delight, he realised that if he leapt out now, curling up into a protective ball, he would have only a short distance to go before he hit the ground. He would probably not even receive a scratch, seeing as how there were dozens upon baker's dozens of bushes and shrubs to cushion his fall.

Then his conscience returned to him. Alice was not a bad person at all; just in the wrong place at the wrong time. It would be very cruel to bail out and leave her to her fate. What could he do though, with both his hands and feet out of operation? Inspiration struck him, and he leaned over the control panel. Instead of using his hands to master the helicopter's controls, he would just have to use his elbows.

Jabbing wildly at what he hoped would turn the helicopter to the right, he was gratified when it obliged, although it did so with enough vigour to nearly unseat him. The gull squawked as his head was cracked painfully into the ceiling. Encouraged by his efforts, Sonic swung the craft suddenly sideways, back towards the city from which they had just departed. This time, Sonic fell awkwardly from his seat, sprawling across the space that was usually reserved for feet. Luckily though, that was not the only side-effect. The gull was shot right though one side of the craft and out of the other, leaving a trail of large white feathers in his wake.

Alice sat for a moment, stunned, then automatically reached for the controls once more, pulling them out of their crazy spin. There were red marks down her face from where the bird had struck her. The two sat in silence for a full minute, as the helicopter traced a slow path back into the heart of the city.

"I don't believe that you are who they said you are, after all," the human told him eventually. "The cold-blooded killer who they described would never have saved me." The hedgehog shrugged it off, though he was burning with curiosity. Why had those soldiers told her that he was a ... oh what was it? Oh yes, a cold-blooded killer.

"I didn't even know that they'd told you that," he said, truthfully. "And I'm definitely no murderer."

"I know. That's why I'm going to take a risk and release you. I don't know what's going to happen when they find out, but you don't deserve to be framed for something. I'll tell them that you escaped when the gull attacked, or something."

"Thanks," Sonic managed, awkwardly.

"Don't mention it." She reached back over behind the seats for a minute, then produced a medium sized bag, complete with ripcord. "I sometimes use the 'copter for some sky-diving," she explained. "Just don't tell anyone."

Sonic grinned. "No problemo."

She broke his cords with the help of a sturdy penknife and plenty of determination, helped him to strap the bag to his back, checked the cord was in place, then smiled at him. "Good luck."

"Goodbye, and thanks again." He gave her one last wave before he leapt clear of the helicopter, pausing for only the briefest of moments before giving a sharp tug on the cord. Judging by his slowed descent, the parachute had opened up. He spread out his arms and whooped aloud. He was coming back in style.

***

Not too far away in the streets below, was the one whom Sonic had been mistaken for - Project: Shadow. Currently, he was a hedgehog with a mission, stalking through a pair of double doors, daring anybody to challenge him. Before he met up with Robotnik on ARK, there was something that he had to do.

The building was undoubtedly 'posh'; the floors were lined with plush red carpet with gold-coloured (or maybe even gold, come to think of it) edging. The walls were a beautiful burnished metal, with a hint of orange about them. Underneath though, he guessed that there was merely stone, although that would be expensive in itself. The look and feel of the place reminded the black hedgehog slightly of the more old-fashioned cinemas, adding an air of comfort despite the grandeur. However, he was not here to be comforted.

He was in what had used to be the Town Hall, before Sapphire City had been united with the neighbouring towns to form a County Town Hall. It was now used mostly for conferences, and there were plans to convert the bottom few floors into a museum area. Not that he really cared about that.

Shadow allowed his pace to pick up as he shot through the empty corridors. The security was lax here, since there was usually no reason for an attack to be mounted or entry to be forced. It was kind of ironic, he thought, that the one place that he would not be allowed to enter in the whole building was his destination. No pathetic guard was going to stop him though: he was better than them all, the Ultimate Lifeform. He would never forget his status.

He crashed through another set of double doors, allowing himself a smirk as he drove the door into some human's face. He shot on, the outraged yell of pain left far behind him. Jerk. The idiot should know better than to get in his way. The corridors became a blurred insubstantial image as they streaked away behind him. He glimpsed a staircase at the end of a corridor branching off to his left. Turning sharply, he raced towards then up it, grinning in triumph. He would soon get to where he wanted to be. Luckily for him, the staircases were all above each other, so that as soon as one disappeared in his wake he was already halfway up the next. Within the space of half a minute, he had reached the top floor.

Upon this level the atmosphere became much more modern: the walls were panelled glass, so that one could see the streets and dwarfed buildings below. The infamous potted tropical plants were everywhere, and Shadow wondered how it was that every place like it always seemed to include them. Maybe they felt that they gave life to the place. In a way that was true, since they photosynthesised to produce oxygen, and without oxygen living creatures could not survive. Shaking off this distraction, he approached the single opaque wall that hid the conference room from prying eyes. At least, he supposed that was what it was for, although anyone who was desperate enough could just fly up - either naturally or in a helicopter - and watch that way.

Without knocking, he extended one hand, shoving it palm outwards so that the door banged inward. He wondered why he had not just kicked it down. That would have woken up the occupants with even more of a jolt. They all stared at him, those who had had their back to the door turning round, surprise written across their faces. Shadow ignored most of them; their existences were of no consequence to him. There was only one person in the entire conference that he was interested in, and that only because of what they possessed.

She was the least moved person in the room. In fact, she was regarding him with a calculating air, weighing up possible causes and outcomes in her rational mind. The creature was a Mobian cat, green in colour, with a furry cream muzzle and inside of ears. Her hair was long, tied back in a yellow bangle. She wore white gloves, tangerine shoes, and - most unusually - large black sungoggles. The whole of her tail was metal; robotic. This was not due to robocizer injury, but a replacement. The cat was something of a celebrity: her face could be recognised by just about everybody on the planet. It had not taken the hedgehog long to find out about Megabucks - What a name, he thought - and, more importantly, what she possessed.

Without hesitation, Shadow leapt onto the table, sliding down it, scattering documents and official papers in all directions. He was grateful to the mini-hover jets in his shoes that allowed him to do this. They would not support him in mid-air though, only adding an extra slick of speed to flat surfaces. The cat sat sedately, watching his approach without concern.

He ground to a halt in front of her, folding his arms, unconsciously matching her seated stance. "Excuse me, but I don't remember seeing you on the guest list," she said, yawning showily to show that she was not afraid of him.

"I'm not," he retorted, flatly. "Give me your Chaos Emerald."

Megabucks laughed, her well-know and well-practised laugh that she used in all of her many interviews. "Short and sweet, mm? I think you'd better leave, Mr. Hedgehog, before security gets here."

"I'm going nowhere until you give me the emerald." The other members of the conference were either backing away from the battle of willpower, or else were hovering uncertainly, wondering what they should be doing. They had never been in any kind of danger or even excitement before in their lives.

The cat had kept both of her hands under the table while they had been speaking; now she brought one up - her left - in a lightning movement. She held a gun, which he assumed, for the briefest of seconds, she must have drawn and cocked without looking. Not bad, he considered. Seconds after the gun was produced, he had kicked it out of her grasp. It clattered to the floor a few yards away, though no-one dared to pick it up. Shadow stamped down viciously on her hand. She grimaced, but did not cry out. He was very nearly impressed.

Their eyes met for a few seconds, then he brought his foot up, almost too swiftly to be seen. It connected solidly with her chin; she fell back in her chair, unconscious. Grabbing the yellow Chaos Emerald that she had been shielding with her other hand, he jumped down from the table. Somebody had finally gained enough courage to grab the gun, he realised, as he glimpsed a bolt that went wide over his head. They were joined moments later by several security guards who had finally arrived.

Deciding it was time to make a swift exit, he turned and ran to the glass wall. When he reached it, he did not stop, instead curling slightly, so that his spikes took the brunt of the impact. The shards imploded outwards as he crashed through it, uncurling and spreading out his arms as if he could glide away. He held the yellow Chaos Emerald tightly in one hand, smiling grimly to himself. Shadow could feel the gazes of those left behind him in the room, wondering why he had taken that course of action. They must be thinking that he was some kind of nutter.

He closed his eyes, focusing himself. It was a long while since he had done this, so he would have to concentrate hard. "Chaos Control!" he yelled aloud, then vanished. The viewers blinked in astonishment, unsure what could have happened. If it were not for the carnage wrecked in the room, and the missing Emerald, then they might have believed that they had imagined the whole event, so short and unexpected had it been.

***

Sonic landed flat footed on the ground, jarring his feet horribly. Wincing, he staggered about for several minutes until the pain wore off. He knew that he could not afford to hang about though: as soon as his escape was noted, the G.U.N. operatives would be after him. "Jerks," he muttered under his breath. What had he ever done to them that they should think him a master criminal? When he eventually got the explanation, it had better be a good one.

Jogging on the spot, he satisfied himself that his feet were cured of their temporary problem. He tore the parachute from his back, discarding it behind a large pile of trash cans. If possible, he would come back for it later and somehow return it to Alice. He felt that it was the least he could do after she had released him.

"Litterbug," an accusing voice told him.

He turned to see a small robot chao with large orange eyes watching him placidly. He did not know it, but it was Riot, the Yasani chao. Sonic bent down, petting him, and the chao purred with pleasure. The hedgehog liked chao immensely: they were such loveable creatures he would have found it hard not to. "Hello, little guy. I'm afraid I can't stop to chat or play though." The chao stopped purring, just as a sudden thought struck him. "How come you're not in a Chao Garden?"

"I'm here to help you. I am Samantha's chao and my name is Riot. I've already helped your friend Tails, but that is beside the point. You will need my help if you are to avoid the members of G.U.N.: they will be after you as we speak."

The blue hedgehog stared, stunned at the chao and his short speech. Still, Sonic knew that chao had a magic all of their own; he was certainly not going to dismiss what he said. "Alright then," he said, soberly. "How can you help me?"

The chao shrugged. "Take me with you and you'll find out." For the life of him, he could never remember seeing the chao at the garden; Sam had certainly never introduced them to each other. Sonic wondered for a moment if the chao could have some form of tracking device implanted in him, then dismissed the idea as stupid. It would have been easier to surround him with troops there and then rather than follow him through the streets first.

He nodded. "Sure you can come with me." He picked the chao up, at about the same moment as there was a loud clang from behind him.

"Look out Sonic, it's the cavalry."

Spinning round in an instant, the hedgehog saw a robot stomping towards him. It was a little smaller than him in height, though none the less vicious in appearance because of this. The initials G.U.N. were stamped upon its side for the world to see. It was shaped something like a humanoid or a Mobian, although what it was actually supposed to be was anyone's guess. "Halt, criminal," it droned.

Taken by surprise, Sonic flung at it the first object that came to hand: Riot. The chao yelped in a mixture of shock and annoyance as he flew through the air, crashing into the robot's head. The strength with which he was thrown as well as the velocity was part of the reason for what happened next. Another was that the robot was part of a bulk manufactured series, produced more for quantity than quality. The result was that the robot imploded, shorting out, falling to the street floor. The whole incident had hardly taken any time at all; a few seconds at most.

Riot sat up, looking faintly annoyed. "Next time, can you try throwing something that isn't me?"

"Uh, sorry," Sonic apologised. "It was a reflex reaction."

"You mean you normally go around throwing people at things that pop up behind you?"

"No, no-"

The chao cut him short. "Forget it for now; we've got to get going. They shouldn't have got onto your track as fast as this, but we're just going to have to accept it and skeddadle."

"Where to, exactly?"

"First, you'll need to carry me. Properly this time." Riot continued talking as Sonic picked him up once more. "Okay, now just follow my directions. I'll take you to a safe place, then I'll go and get Sam and people. I doubt it would be safe back at the chao garden."

Don't you mean I'm taking you, since I'm the one doing all the legwork? Sonic thought, though wisely said nothing. "Let's go." He jogged round the end of the alley and out into the main street, cautious at first but becoming more confident as nobody challenged him. Nobody was even paying him too much attention, aside from one or two curious passers-by. Unfortunately, this streak was too good to last.

A cry of "Stop! Hedgehog!" hailed him from one of the sidestreets as he passed. Narrowing his eyes, he stepped up his pace, not even bothering to look back. More people were staring at him now that he had been spotted, wondering what he could have done wrong.

"They're gaining on you," Riot informed him.

Sonic gritted his teeth. It was all the people on the pavement who were slowing him down. Being dusk, they were all headed for home, ready to bed down for the night. Even those who were not stopped to watch the chase they were moving at snails' pace, making it impossible for him to get anywhere. If only they would all get out of his way. He had no wish to be recaptured by G.U.N., as they would not have taken kindly to his escape. Thinking of his escape, he hoped that Alice would not get punished, and that she could think up some good enough excuse. It would all have been for nothing anyway, if these people did not get a move on. He wished that he was in a place without any bystanders, partly so that he could escape, partly so that he would not have witnesses if he was captured. It would embarrass him.

A sudden idea came to him, so simple a solution that he wondered why he had not thought of it earlier. If he wanted no people in the way, why did he not just run on the road? There were only cars and other vehicles on it, and they moved much faster, although not as fast as he did.

A not-too-distant robotic shout of "Hedgehog!" made up his mind. He dodged past the slow-moving creatures, remembering the green cross code; checking both ways before stepping out into the road. As he did so, he reflected on his robot pursuers. Could they not call him something different for a change? Calling him hedgehog all the time, they reminded him of SWATbots.

"Good idea," said Riot, approvingly, as Sonic waited for a car to pass and turn into a side-street. "It'll be quicker this way." From a standing start the blue hedgehog broke into one of his famous runs, faster now without any obstacles to hinder him. Riot grinned wryly at him. "Just don't drop me or throw me at anything now, whatever you do; it'd hurt a lot more than it did last time."

"I won't."

"When we put enough distance between them and us, I'll start to give you directions." Sonic was barely concentrating on the chao, enjoying the rush of the wind through his spikes. It was only when Riot stopped talking that he noticed that something was wrong.

A sixth sense warning him, he looked round to see a large truck bearing down on them, its driver going at full throttle. He was not surprised in the slightest to see the letters G.U.N. on its front: who else would be chasing him after all? Well, maybe the media, but they would not be trying to run him down unless they were tabloids that went in for very cheap thrills.

"Go faster, Sonic," the chao pressed him.

"I am going fast!" Sonic snapped. He liked Riot, but the little chao did not, in his opinion, know when to shut up, and he had a born gift for stating the obvious. The hedgehog was not to know the extent of Riot's intelligence though, nor his reasons for acting like he did. He could therefore be forgiven for thinking this. He was going fast, just nowhere near his fastest. Pouring on the speed, he took a sharp turn down another street, following up by turning another, then another. If Sonic had hoped to lose the truck in this manner, then he was sorely disappointed.

As he pounded down one street, the vehicle shot out of another, almost hitting him. "Watch it dude!" he yelled, angry that it had caught up with him so soon. The driver had the advantage of knowing the city, probably having one of those new inbuilt radar maps to direct him. Sonic, on the other hand, had nothing but a loose memory of running some of the streets. "Not good odds," he muttered through his teeth.

Riot glanced behind at the oncoming truck, his features appearing quite calm. "Why did the hedgehog cross the road?" he asked, aloud. "Because he wanted to get to the other side."

The blue hedgehog glowered. "I find jokes like that in very bad taste," he growled. "Especially considering I'm both a hedgehog and an orphan."

"I apologise. I didn't know that you were an orphan." He paused. "You see that bridge?"

"I'm running straight at it. What do you think?"

"That's good," said the chao.

Sonic shot under the bridge without a second glance, concentrating only on escaping. Fortunately, so was the driver of the truck. There was a loud crunching sound behind him. Turning round, the hedgehog found himself staring at what remained of the vehicle. It was just catching fire.

The speed at which the truck had impacted with the bridge had caused the front to be scrunched like a tin can. The engine had blown itself out at once. As for the bridge, its supports had collapsed, falling languidly onto the street below. As if in slow motion, the whole structure crashed down on top of what remained of the truck's front. Sonic could only stand there, watching as the debris settled. 

"Do you think they're still alive?" Sonic asked, concernedly, feeling relieved that nobody had been on the bridge when it had collapsed.

Riot shrugged. "I doubt it."

Stepping cautiously closer, the hedgehog stepped on something. Looking down at it, he could see that it was a sign of some sort, probably one that used to be attached to the bridge. He mouthed the words, then grinned to himself. It read:

Beware! No vehicles under 1.5 metres.

Still smirking, he turned and ran, before any other troops could find and intercept him.

***

Shadow ran across the city streets soundlessly. It was night-time now; dark, with no cars or people about. He had managed to evade the G.U.N. robots, as well as the heavy hands of the law since his escape from the building. The latter part was not hard. For some reason best known to themselves, the police seemed intimidated by the military troops. At least, they did not venture out in as great a number. The black hedgehog did not care what the reason was: as long as they did not bother him, it was fine.

Now that the streets were clearer, he had time to contemplate on what had happened since leaving the building. He had used Chaos Control for the first time since ... Shadow found that he was not sure how long it had been. Still, it was not worth calculating. He turned his mind back to the delicious warm glow that spread in side him when using it. It could be performed in a split second, far too fast for those stupid gawpers who he had stolen the Emerald from to tell what had happened. He doubted that it would have occurred to them to look down at the street below. If they had done, then they might have been in time to see him reappear less than a foot above the pavement. He had run as soon as his feet had touched the ground.

Later on, he had only run into a couple of G.U.N. patrols. These were easily skirted or demolished; whichever was more convenient at the time.

"So," he murmured, caressing the Chaos Emerald in his hand. "It all starts with this: a jewel containing the ultimate power."

A distant cry from behind him. Glancing disdainfully back over his shoulder, he saw a large robot, not unlike the one he had destroyed previously. He felt, quite frankly, that he could not be bothered fighting another one of them. It might be more of a sharp shooter than Hot Shot, and he did not want to waste time.

Swiftly, he jogged up a wide flight of steps, onto a plaza. He ran across the unevenly cobbled ground, not bothering to look back to check on the robot's progress. Crossing the plaza in seconds, he headed towards the next set of steps, these ones leading down. That should confuse his mechanical pursuer.

Instead of going down the steps themselves, he leapt onto the handrail, his grooved shoes locking onto them perfectly. They had been especially designed for that purpose, allowing him to slide down like greased lightning. He crouched down as he went, although he was careful to stay upright. This added to his already considerable speed. A black streamlined shape rushing through the darkness; he was near impossible to glimpse.

Due to his upright position, he was able to see the barricade well before he drew near it. It had been constructed by G.U.N. robots, all of which were now waiting behind it, ready to attack him once he had come within range. He wondered briefly how they had seen him coming. It would have to be some sort of scanner, he decided. At the speed he was travelling, they would not normally have spotted him until he was a dust cloud on the horizon.

At least he had given himself to calculate, to consider ... He did not need it. Acting with a practised calm, he curled as he hit the last stretch of rail. He was flicked and catapulted into the air, a deadly spinning ball. Only a few seconds later saw him landing, uncurling himself on the other side of the barricade. The robots turned about, puzzled, wondering where their quarry could possibly have gone to. They were just in time to see Shadow disappearing round the far corner of the street: the hedgehog had obviously not deemed it productive or necessary to destroy them. Strangely enough, they did not feel honoured by this action, or rather lack of.

The black hedgehog sped onwards, dropping the bungling would-be attackers from his mind dismissively. They were no threat to him. He noted with something near pleasure that he was near the massive bridge construction that connected the two separate sections of the city together. He would be sure to lose that large robot that had been chasing him by crossing over it. Shadow smirked slightly as he recalled the ancient folklore: 'Evil cannot pass over water'. He doubted that that would deter his pursuers. Of course, he did not class himself as evil. If he had actually thought about such matters, it would probably have been those who opposed him - physically at least - who were on the wrong side. He was merely carrying out an act of justice and vengeance. If truth be told though, these thoughts never even entered his head for a moment.

The bridge had been constructed to remedy the large gouge that had been made through the city during the final battle with Perfect Chaos. After much debating, it had been decided that this was the better option. This might have had something to do with the fact that it cost a lot less money than it would have done to replace all the streets and walkways. Still, not wanting to appear to have tight-stringed purses, they had spent lavish sums on the main bridge. The final result of this was that it seemed more of a work of art than an actual usable object for walking, running or driving across.

However, Shadow either did not or could not appreciate any of this. Instead, he found it a convenient means of escape. The only way in which he remotely connected with its grandeur was a vague thought about how it was a good long stretch to run across. Doubtless, this lack of wonder would have dashed the spirits of the architects considerably.

Ahead of him upon the bridge, he spied another barricade. As useless a trap as the first, and simple to avoid. The G.U.N. operatives were irritating him by now. For this reason he decided to bypass them altogether, rather than jump over them again. They might be wise to that trick by now.

Putting on a great burst of speed, he performed an action that would have surprised most creatures: he ran straight up one of the vertical supports. Anyone familiar with Sonic might have recognised this manoeuvre as one of his star traits. In fact, it was possible for anybody to do this over a height related to their velocity. Only someone incredibly fast could manage the feat that Shadow had just performed though.

Having reached the summit, he curled into a spiky ball, ready to smash the awaiting G.U.N. robot. Not having been prepared for such an assault, it toppled from the platform. The black hedgehog skidded to a halt. Moments later, a distant crash indicated the demise of the robot. Smiling, he spared a brief glance for the ground below. "I am living the high life," he said, aloud. He considered this statement he had just made for a full minute. Was that a joke he had just made? He supposed so. Feeling considerably proud of himself, he prepared himself to run on.

It was then that the second vision of memory came to him.

__

Shadow glanced up as Maria rushed into the room, urgency and worry distorting her normally pretty face. "What is wrong?" he asked, surprised at her abrupt entry.

She spoke telegram-style, with short, swiftly punctuated sentences. "We've got to go. Quickly. They've come." She emphasised the 'they', fear creeping into her voice. She grabbed at his hand, pulling him out of the room, away down the corridor. Despite the fact that he had no idea about what was going on, the black hedgehog allowed himself to be dragged along by the human. She was his friend, his only friend in fact, and visa versa. For this reason among others he trusted her explicitly.

"Who are they?" He was faster than she, so he pulled her along, using his shoes to hover above the floor, granting him extra speed. Shadow knew the space station like the back of his hand after living all of his life there and could easily take them to the escape shuttles.

"G.U.N.; they're government troops. They've been shooting people down the other end of the station. Oh Shadow, I'm so scared. They'll probably kill us if they find us."

"That is why we have got to get away?" She nodded. He still did not understand fully, but thought that ignorance was preferable to being shot at or, worse, death.

They reached the bay area in record timing, both relieved to find no welcoming party of weapon-wielding soldiers. Shadow hurried over to the control panel, feeding in a series of commands. He was much more skilled in this area than Maria, who appeared not to have inherited her grandfather's talent for electronics or scientific works.

As he was doing this, the sound that they had been dreading finally came to their ears, a thousand times amplified: army boots clattering across the floor. Spinning to face the entrance to the bay they were in time to see a group of human soldiers bursting in, guns held at the ready.

"There it is!" cried one, pointing an accusing finger at Shadow.

Another soldier raised his weapon, aiming it at the hedgehog's head. Shadow stood stock still for a crucial moment as the gun was rapidly cocked then fired. Instinctively, he winced, shutting his eyes. A moment later he opened them. He should have been dead. He was not: somebody else was.

The shot never hit its intended target. A scream, Maria falling. It all became a blur to Shadow; surreal, yet at the same time terrifyingly too real. Then his head cleared, and he saw what had happened: Maria had stepped between the hedgehog and the gun, taking the bullet destined for him.

He knelt down beside her body, heedless of the blood that seeped into his gloves. They had killed her. They would pay.

Shadow gasped aloud, reeling away from the horrible shock of recollection. The memory had come to him as vividly as if he had lived it then for the first time. It seemed all so real; not like a recall at all; more like a dream, no, a vision. "I have not forgotten," he said aloud, as if his deceased friend might be listening. "I will give you the revenge I promised."

Several lengths down the raised platforms of the bridge a robot was clambering over the edge. Gripped by a sudden impulse, he shot towards it, launching into a spindash as he neared. Giving vent to a mechanical scream, it toppled backwards, parts of it flying in all directions even as it did so.

Almost as soon as the burst of anger had arrived, it departed. He shook his head; the simmering hate inside him must not be allowed to erupt in such a way. If he was going to achieve the vengeance that he had promised Maria, then he would have to be calculating about it. He knew what he was doing. If he played his cards right, he would be able to make those cruel murderers pay for their crime tenfold.

If he had chanced to look back, perhaps he would have seen the three figures standing there, watching him with something close to pity. Then again, he might not have seen anything at all.

The hedgehog raced onwards, leaping across the platforms with amazing agility. Three quarters of the way across, he looked down through the gaps in a girder. The area below was clear of any obstruction; the road block had been left far behind. Gingerly, he leaned out a little way, clutching hold of one of the more manageable supports. Holding tightly on, he slid down, fireman style. He was glad for the gloves that he wore; his hands would have been horribly burnt by the friction otherwise.

On the ground once more, he looked in all directions. He had decided to shake off his pursuers before using the chaos control power to warp to the ARK. He thought that it would take some time for Robotnik to get back to his base. Until then, there would be not much point in returning there and sending its co-ordinates to the human. He would give it another ten minutes he decided.

He smirked to himself as he saw that the large G.U.N. super-robot was still following him. It was not doing badly if it had not lost him already, he thought, grudgingly. Turning, he ran from it, the wind whipping through his spines. This lumbering creature could occupy his spare time, he was sure.

***

Sonic ducked his head cautiously around the corner. No, there were no G.U.N. ambushes awaiting him there. The city was almost ghostly, lit mainly by the moonlight and street lamps. Glancing up, he saw one of the many advertising billboard posters that seemed to be everywhere these days. "Got Ring?" it proclaimed. Something about that particular poster, perhaps the rip in the bottom left hand corner, triggered his memory. Looking more closely at his surroundings, he realised that he was back where he had abandoned the parachute.

"We appear to have gone in a complete circle," Riot observed.

"Yeah," the hedgehog agreed. "Now what?"

"Keep going. You're going to come to a place that you know soon, then you can get your bearings." Sonic wondered why the chao did not just direct him to the 'safe place' that he had spoken of. For some strange reason the chao preferred to allow him to work out things for himself, rather than give him advice all the time.

"If you say so."

Considering his options, he caught sight of the nearby stairs. He should arrive at a different place if he used those, he thought confidently. There were, however, some obstacles in the way, though they should cause him no serious problems. He leapt up into the air, curling up into a ball, ramming the wooden crates out of the way. They splintered at once, leaving his route clear.

"Howzat?" he murmured proudly, uncurling.

Someone else, however, was not so pleased. "Ouch! Do you have to keep doing things like that?" Riot put his hands on his hips, giving Sonic and irked look. "I'm going to go ahead and wait up for you. It'll be better for my health at any rate." So saying, he scampered away into the dark.

The hedgehog watched him go, guiltily. He wondered briefly if he ought to follow him, then remembered about the chao's confidence in him being able to find his own way. So instead, he would follow his first instincts.

Turning, he ran lightly up the steps. Now he had the choices before him of descending the opposite flight of steps, which seemed a little pointless, or carrying on across a turfed area. He chose the turf. It was good, he felt, that even in the heart of a metropolis there could still be places of greenery. Thinking about this, and humming a little tune to himself, he did not notice the new obstacle blocking his path.

The first thing that alerted him to the fact that something was wrong was the now familiar initials that were imprinted upon the metal box: G.U.N.. A creaking sound, and his eyes were drawn, almost reluctantly, upwards. A split second later, he was somersaulting backwards, just in time to avoid the volley of gunshots that peppered the ground where he had been standing. Thank goodness for his instincts, he thought, relieved. He did not notice the irony of this, since it had been his instincts that had prompted him to come that way in the first place.

A G.U.N. robot leapt down from its perch on top of a low roofed building. It paused briefly once it had landed, adjusting its aim. There was no doubt in the blue hedgehog's mind as to who had shot at him. Luckily, the creature's hesitation gave him the small chance he needed to strike back.

Half spinning to give himself some protection, he flung himself towards his adversary, completing the move with a sliding kick. The robot's feet were knocked from under it, and it fell heavily. Not pausing for respite, Sonic jump dashed its head, which clattered to the ground several metres away, trailing a mesh of wires in its wake.

Triumphantly, he stood tall, his arms folded. He had not fought a manufactured robot for a long, long time, and he found it somehow very satisfying. It was much easier than fighting, say, the Mecha bots. Sonic had grown up fighting SWAT-bots, finding them a walkover compared to trained fighters. Trained fighters tended not to fall apart when you spindashed them.

On a sudden impulse, he jumped over the destroyed robot's body, so that he was next to the G.U.N. box. He put his shoulder against it, leaning with all his weight. Gratingly, it began to slide across the ground. Then, as if it were part of a conjuring trick, the box tipped and disappeared. It took Sonic a few moments to realise that it had merely fallen down a flight of steps, instead of vanishing completely as he had first thought. The steps had been blocked from view before, due to the box's imposing presence.

Grinning, he was about to hop on top of the box so that he could get onto the steps. However, a flicker of movement caught his eye, staying him for a moment. Of course, it could be a harmless passer-by, but he doubted it. Somehow, Sonic did not imagine that anybody with good intentions would be lurking under stairs in the dead of night. He stood still, considering what to do. After only a few more seconds had passed, the irredoubtable grin relaxed back onto his face. An idea had come to him.

Making sure to keep absolutely silent, he tiptoed forwards, slipping himself into the small gap between the box and the wall. If his plan went wrong, he doubted he would be able to unshift himself. Once more, he exerted all his strength into moving the object the mere couple of inches that it would take for it to overbalance. The box really was extraordinarily heavy he thought. Either it was incredibly dense or it had something very weighty for its contents.

Once he was only pushing against the box, without the support of the wall behind him, it became much harder. Luckily, this period only lasted for a short amount of time.

A loud crash followed almost at once by a robotic scream broke the expectant night air. So it had been a robot after all. Definitely the 'had' part, if the sound effects were anything to go by. As if something, somewhere, wanted to make perfectly sure of this, there was a miniature rumbling boom, and a good portion of the stairs collapsed. Sonic leapt back just in time. That must have been why it was so heavy: the box had contained explosives. He was glad that he had not attempted to spindash it. Maybe G.U.N. had hoped that he would do just that. If so, the plan had seriously backfired upon them.

He took a step back then sprinted forwards with just enough speed to clear the gap in the stairs with a jump dash. Landing with his arms outstretched to give him maximum balance, he looked about him.

There was not a lot to take in really; he was in a small disused yard, dingy and grubby without comparison. Dispirited slightly by this, thinking that he might have made a bad decision after all, he tried to find an exit. Preferably this would be one that did not involve going back where he had come from.

Once again he was in luck; there was another flight of steps in the wall opposite, next to a faded poster advertising a new game in some series that he vaguely remembered playing several years back. Peering more closely at it, he found it to be one of the Samurai Speed games, his favourite gaming series. The poster was for the latest game of the series, featuring the red hedgehog's sidekick Krystal Kitty and his friendly nemesis Harry Hare as playable characters.

"All right!" he declared, making a mental note to try it out sometime. "I wonder if it's as good as Tourist Trap? That game rocked like nothing else, even if 'Speed himself wasn't in it."

Leaving the poster, he skirted a rainbow puddle of oil that had spilled across the floor from a canister that somebody had dumped. Before ascending the stairs, he stood with his back to the wall, craning his neck round, just in case a robot was lying in wait for him. Seeing none, he ran up the stairway, avoiding another heap of boxes and crates stacked there. Past them he saw, to his imminent delight, a set of handrails at the sides of a long and sizely double flight of steps.

His new shoes had special grooves in them, perfectly designed for sliding down rails. So far he had not had a chance to try them out. Now though, fate had presented him with an unrivalled opportunity.

He'd slid down rails before, of course, though not with his feet. This was something new to him. Gingerly, he put one foot upon the rail, wondering what he'd have to do to get them to lock on. He was pleasantly surprised to find that they locked on practically on contact, sliding smoothly along the rail.

Putting his palms flat against the wall to balance himself, he brought his other foot up to join the first. It locked on just as easily, and he found himself lying awkwardly in a vertical, and rather painful, position a yard or two up the wall.

"It never looked this hard in the diagram," he muttered, disgusted at himself. "I really need to get properly aquatinted with these things."

Taking a deep breath, he pushed himself forward with both hands. The force he produced coming up was nearly enough to overbalance him the other way, down to the pavement a good distance below. At least he was upright now, he supposed.

"You've done rubbish so far Sonic, now let's see how you manage in the proper test of skill: the ride."

He narrowed his eyes, grim with determination, then leaned slightly to one side. Like a dream, he began to slide down the rail, gliding smoothly, without a sound. It was exhilarating. As he picked up speed, the air whipped easily past his streamlined spikes, and he whooped aloud with delight. It seemed so easy to him, and such a great feeling as well.

In no time at all, he reached the bottom of the handrails, and flipped himself off and into the air, doing a somersault, ending in a neat pose straight off the cover of a glossy sporting magazine.

"Whoa," he breathed. "Awesome, with a capital A." He hesitated for a moment, then ran back up the steps so that he could have a second go. "Need to improve actually getting on," he told himself, as more of an excuse than anything else.

This time he simply leapt on, now that he was more than confident about his rail-grinding abilities. No need for balancing acts, he thought, grinning at the already fading memory of his earlier bungled attempts. Twice more he tried it, each time with even more perfection than the last. Finally, he was satisfied, and ready to move on.

He jogged down the street, which was now on a slope, passing garageless cars that had been parked in the street for the night. Sonic guessed that he was moving through a residential area. Staring up at the buildings about him, he could just make out the neat sets of curtains in the windows, and knew that his guess had been right.

Every so often he passed a bench, for people to sit on and watch the traffic go by, or for old creatures to rest when they came home with their shopping. The hedgehog stopped at every single one, for the very simple reason that he liked to read the plaques on them. Some were sentimental, like "John Williams, who died at 67, and always used to love to sit here and watch the world go by.". Others were just plain weird, like "Eddie Watts, 2, because this has to be the only bench he hasn't thrown up on.". Sonic found all of them entertaining, although it hampered his progress somewhat.

He had just read one that said "To my lovely wife Freda, who has now passed away into an eternal garden." when he realised the reason for that particular reference: he was standing outside a park.

On nothing but a whim, he decided to go into it, and follow the path out to the other side. He passed the black and yellow trash can with the corny label on it saying "Put your litter in the bin, and make sure it all goes in.". Sonic had a suspicion that it had been made by the same people who went around saying things like "Mustn't grumble" and "Let's be bright and cheerful to keep away Mr. Grumpy clouds". On the other side, someone had stuck a poster advertising the 'Chao in Space' DVD.

The park was not sizely in any way, measuring about 50 yards square. Even so, Sonic found it a welcome break from the tedium of the grey streets either side of it. It was not sparse in botanical elements, and was so green as to remind him of the colourful woods around his home village. Any park benches were all wooden, so as not to clash with the environment that they were set in.

He lingered for much longer than he might have done in any other sector of the city, the scenery making him feel almost homesick. Eventually though, he decided that he had better continue. Regretfully, he left through the park's other exit, making a mental note of its location, so that he would be able to come back later.

"If those creeps let me, that is," he said aloud, jogging down more of the endless streets.

He stopped. The blue hedgehog glanced around, wondering what had caught his eye. His gaze came to rest upon a street sign. With a start, he realised what it was: he had seen that sign before. It was only a few blocks away from the chao garden that Samantha owned. Looking about him, the familiarity seemed to emanated from every crack in the walls and pavement. Now he knew where he was, he could get his bearings much more easily.

First thing to do would be to go to the chao garden, to see if his friends were there. It was the most likely place he could think of, unless they had been captured too, as an afterthought of the G.U.N. agents.

In no time at all, he arrived outside the doors that led through into the small utopia that was the chao garden. He reached out one hand, to push the door open, but a voice by his side stopped him.

"They're not there."

Turning, Sonic saw that the speaker was Riot, who had seated himself upon a car bonnet, his short stubby arms wrapped around his legs. He had obviously been waiting for him.

"Why? Where have they gone?"

"They've not been captured," Riot told him, allaying his fears. "They just thought that this place was too obvious for a revendos. If the G.U.N. agents were to search the city, this is the first place they would look."

"Okay, so where are they then?"

"Right. You know the big carpark a couple of blocks away?" Sonic nodded; he did. "Well, keep going straight on, then take the fifth turning on your right. There's a group of warehouses there. It's the one with the red stripe on the door."

"Thanks." The blue hedgehog had the strange feeling that he was playing spies whenever he talked to Riot. The little guy talked like a private eye, or at least a contact of one most of the time anyway. Why could the chao not just take him there, rather than go through this procedure? Ah well, he was just going to have to do it his way. "I guess I'll see you later then."

He turned, jogging away once more. He did not notice the omochao slip off the car bonnet, following him. The carpark was easy to find, since he already knew where it was, having run past it several times before. It took him a little less than five minutes to reach it, though, as he was being very careful not to run into any G.U.N. troops. The last thing he wanted to do was to lead them to his friends, getting them caught too.

As his feet touched the polished tarmac of the carpark, he realised that his footfalls were being echoed. Looking up, he saw ... For a moment he was confused: the figure running towards him was fast; as fast as himself even. In the dark, it looked as if it was himself or a mirror image that he saw. Then the moment passed, and he was able to note the differences.

The creature running towards him was a hedgehog, though they were really black in colour, not just shaded like himself. He wore anklets around his shoes and gloves that gleamed in the dark, presumably a metal of some kind. His chest was furry too, unlike Sonic's own smooth tanned chest.

The black hedgehog had also slowed down upon sighting Sonic, and was approaching warily. It was then that Sonic saw what he was holding in one hand.

"That's a Chaos Emerald!" he exclaimed, his eyes widening as a piece of the puzzle slotted into place. The emerald he was holding was yellow. Sonic knew that Megabuck's owned the yellow Chaos Emerald, and would certainly not let it go willingly. Therefore, this creature must have stolen it. The black hedgehog said nothing, but gazed at him coolly. Sonic continued, feeling that he would have to work it all out aloud, or not at all. G.U.N.'s interest in him now made a crazy sort of sense. "Now I know why the military are after me. It's because they've mistaken me for the likes of you!" The last word he spat out, his rage boiling up inside him. Why should he have to take the rap for this impostor's antics? Taking a fighting stance, he snapped out: "So, where do you think you're going with that emerald?" Still the other said nothing, gazing at him impassively. "Say something, you fake hedgehog," Sonic snarled.

This time the hedgehog reacted. Holding out the emerald in one hand, he called out. "Chaos Control!" Pulsating fields of light shot out from the emerald; first beams of light, then a circle, shooting around his body, encircling him. It looked like the rings of some planet, surrounding the glowing ball of light that was the emerald. For a moment, the blinding light completely obliterated Sonic's sight of the black hedgehog, and he was forced to shield his eyes.

The blink lasted only a second, but when he next opened his eyes, the mysterious creature was alongside him. "He's fast," Sonic murmured to himself, impressed despite himself. He only knew of one other person who could move that fast, and that person was himself.

Spinning round on the spot to watch him go, he saw the black hedgehog already standing atop of a nearby building. It clicked with him: the hedgehog must be using the Chaos Emerald to make him warp somehow. That made sense, seeing as how he had said "Chaos Control".

The hedgehog looked down at him, a tiny figure above. "You asked who I am," he called down. "I am Shadow. I am the world's ultimate lifeform." His voice was smooth, if slightly drawling. He sounded cultured, at any rate, thought the blue hedgehog. A loud resounding 'thud thud thud' interrupted the black hedgehog. He glanced down at something beyond Sonic's shoulder. Shadow then shook his head in distaste, as if remembering suddenly where he was. "I am not here to play games," he sneered. "Farewell."

"Shadow?" murmured Sonic, to himself. "What is he?" He spun round to see a huge mechanised fighter stomping towards them. Glancing back, he saw that Shadow had vanished. "Fine, wimp out when it gets interesting, then," he yelled, although he knew the hedgehog had completely vanished this time.

The unpiloted fighter coming towards him was the one that had been following Shadow earlier. An identification mark on its right leg proclaimed the code 'F-6t', although this meant nothing whatsoever to Sonic. It was not quite as sophisticated as Hot Shot had been, though it was at least half as big as a house, and a thousand times more menacing. The blue hedgehog smiled grimly, noting the letter 'G' for G.U.N. stamped upon the machine's surface.

"What do you want?" he demanded, bravely.

There was a pause as the fighter juddered to a halt. Sonic winced slightly; it obviously had not been built for stopping. It then proceeded to speak in a droning synthesised voice, quite unremarkable for a robot. "I am F-6t Big Foot of the Scorpion Platoon," it informed him. "I have instructions to apprehend a hedgehog. Your x-scan appears to match the one I have been issued with. I will have to subdue you." Figures, thought Sonic. Big Foot started forward.

"Hey, wait!" The fighter halted once more.

"Yes?"

"How do you know I'm not that hedgehog's twin brother?"

"Negative. Project: Shadow is unable to have a twin brother."

Shadow? thought Sonic. So he had been right in his assumption: the black hedgehog must be the one they were after. Aloud, he said: "Well, how do you know that I'm not just somebody who's made myself up to look like him, to trick you?"

Silence. The robot had obviously not considered that option. "What would be the motive behind such an act?"

"I could want to get into your base, and that would be by far the easiest way to do it."

"Oh." The fighter sounded confused: it had obviously not been built for intelligence either. However, it must have been built for some purpose. There was a quick way to find out what.

"Okay, you show me your firepower on, say, that car over there-" He indicated a car very close to the fighter. "-and then I'll tell you what I'm doing here."

It hesitated, and for one moment, Sonic thought that he had mistaken its stupidity, and it had worked out his plan. "Would you prefer a target further away?" it asked, almost plaintively. "I could hit one on the other side of the carpark, you know."

"No, no, that'll do fine," Sonic reassured him, relieved. Sorry, Mr. Car Owner, he thought. This is an emergency.

The robot flipped its upper compartments open, revealing a deadly array of missiles. Sonic was suddenly glad that he had not had to fight it. It took careful aim, although this was not strictly necessary. A full set of missiles were fired, all of them finding their target. In seconds, both the car and the fighter were engulfed in a fireball, just as Sonic had planned.

"You wanted to know what I'm doing here?" the blue hedgehog yelled, above the roaring of the flames and the screams of the robot. "It's because you and the rest of your stupid organisation are hunting me down like some kind of criminal, all because you've mistaken me for some evil creep who is nothing like me!"

Eyes narrowed, he spindashed it hard, feeling the heat of the flames upon his spines. It screamed even louder, attempting to move its smouldering carcass away to somewhere safe, but to no avail. A final spindash to its midriff and the giant robot was lying stricken on the floor of the carpark. Sonic grinned, regaining his normally cool attitude, smoothing back his spikes for the benefit of an imaginary group of spectators. "And the hedgehog does it again as the crowd goes wild. No photos, dudes, no, I mean really."

In the pitch-black, he became suddenly aware of a red dot of light, tracing itself across his chest. He stared at it for a moment before leaping into action. The hedgehog had seen enough spy movies to guess that it was a gun with laser sights. Even as he flew through the air, towards the other side of the parking lot, he realised that he had moved too late. A searing pain went through his left side. The ground rushed up at a dizzying speed to meet him, and he knew no more.

From his vantagepoint behind a parked car, Riot watched the proceedings. "Dang," he said, vehemently.


	3. Light and Shadow

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Chapter 3: Light and Shadow  
~The hunt for the Master Emerald shards~  
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Knuckles trudged wearily along, glancing down at the compass-like object strapped to his wrist. It was at least the tenth time he had checked it that minute, still with no positive result.

The object was a Synchronised Endothermic Excess Charge Detecting Unit. To explain it simply, it was a device for locating Chaos Emeralds and other such power stones, as they produced a massive endothermic charge which would be picked up by the sensor. Obviously, this would help him to find the shards of the Master Emerald. The device had come into his keeping when it had been found by Mighty, the red and black armadillo of the Chaotix Crew, who had trodden upon it. Metal Sonic, its original creator, must have abandoned it on the Floating Island during the adventure in which it had come into play. After a few repairs and alterations, Knuckles and Vector, a green and yellow crocodile, also of the Chaotix Crew, managed to turn it into a sleeker, more portable machine. Now it was only the size of a portable compass, and infinitely more useful.

On the way to search for the Master Emerald shards, the echidna had stopped off at their supply hut to collect it, informing the Chaotix Crew of his actions at the same time. The Chaotix Crew consisted of the two afore-mentioned as well as Espio the purple chameleon and Charmey Bee. They volunteered to search the Island while Knuckles went down to comb the landmass below.

So here he was, in a place so hot that Sandopolis Desert seemed like a cool breeze. Knuckles was on top of a huge sandstone cliff of a golden yellow colour and a gritty texture, in the area known by the locals as Windy Valley. He wiped the sweat off his forehead, glancing down while shielding his eyes to keep at least some of the merciless dust out.

Maybe it would be cooler down there, he reasoned. At least, there was a lot more air blowing about, which should help to keep the heat down. He was not exactly having much luck up above, anyway, so he might as well try it. His mind made up, he leapt off the cliff.

For a few moments he just tumbled through the air, before the air caught and he levelled out, beginning to glide, his dreadlocks whipping out about him. His arms outstretched, he angled his flight to a gentle downwards descent. In no time at all he alighted gently onto the ground, straightened up, and glanced about him.

Something black against the browny-yellow caught his eye. He did a double take, turning back to see what it could possibly be. To his surprise, he saw it was a pair of sunglasses, half buried in a pile of sand. He walked over and plucked them out of the sand, carefully shaking all the grains of sand off before inspecting them. They seemed to be in a remarkably good condition, considering that they had been abandoned there, possibly for some time. It must have been some tripper or tourist who had dropped them, he supposed. Whatever the reason, they were going to come in handy for him. He slid them on, grinning a little.

"Now I look like someone out of a spy movie," he told himself. "That's fine just as long as the glasses don't explode."

At that moment, there was a demanding 'bleep' from his Detector. Looking down at it, he was that the green light upon it was pulsating wildly, indicating that a Master Emerald shard was so close he must almost be on top of it. Slowly, he turned once more to the pile of sand from which he had picked up the sunglasses. Sitting on his haunches, he began a hurried search through the sand. Sure enough, his hand came into contact with something cold to the touch. Closing his hand around it, he pulled it out. Yes, it was indeed a shard.

"One down," he murmured, straightening. Finding one piece gave him hope. After all, he had found the pieces of the Master Emerald when they had been lost before, although admittedly, there had not been someone else looking for them as well that time. He wondered vaguely what Rouge was doing at that moment. Hopefully, she would be far from finding any shards herself.

***

Rouge was, at that moment, in a very different climate from the echidna. It was a warm temperature still, though a manageable humid one, unlike that of Windy Valley. She was in the small paradise known as Dry Lagoon; a beautiful area with superbly green grass, not to mention the shimmering splendour of the lagoon itself. The bat was wandering through the grass, heading in the general direction of the lagoon. This had been the place she had alighted in after leaving the Floating Island. Naturally, since it was directly below, some of the shards must have landed there.

She had found one shard on the desert outskirts of the area, which had inspired her to enter. Strangely enough, the shard pulsed every so often, for no apparent reason. After a little bit of experimenting, she discovered that the pulses were more frequent when she was going in a certain direction. This led her to believe that the shard was in fact homing in on the others, with the 'hot and cold' of the hiding games she had used to play as a child. So, she would have to follow the route which gave the highest pulse rate. Simple really, she thought. Not to mention convenient.

Rouge wound a rather round-about way through the short grass; the pulses were a little meandering in their instructions, but on the whole not too hard to follow.

Her foot nudged something lying in the grass. Rouge looked down, at first seeing nothing. She moved her foot about in a gentle arc, until she touched the object again. Slowly, so as not to lose it again, she reached down. The object was cool to the touch. The edges felt jagged, though they were neither sharp nor cutting.

It was one of the pieces of the shattered Master Emerald.

Of course, she thought as she looked at it: the shards were green, therefore hard to spot in the grass. She pocketed it, keeping hold of the original shard so that she could still navigate. The pulses were irregular now, showing that there was not another shard nearby. It was lucky that it still functioned properly, despite the fact that she now had a second shard. Strange that its inbuilt radar or whatever it was that was doing the locating was not disrupted by it. It was almost as if the Master Emerald looked out for itself. That of course, was impossible.

It was at that precise moment that the crying reached her ears.

***

Knuckles ducked down, peering into the dimly lit passageway. Once his eyes became adjusted to the lack of light, he could see that it appeared safe enough. It was not about to collapse, at any rate.

The signal was indicating that he should venture down there. He was a little puzzled though: how could a shard have fallen sideways, into a passageway? Perhaps a small creature had run off with it, he thought, scolding himself for making a mystery out of the simplest thing. Really, the double encounter that morning must be getting to him.

He entered, crawling on his hands and knees. Every so often he winced as he banged his head on the low ceiling. Luckily though, the tunnel was only a couple of metres long, so he did not have to endure too much skull cracking pain.

The echidna emerged into a spacious chamber, and the change in atmosphere was considerable. Everything was still and silent. The room had sunbeams of dust spiralling about, but otherwise nothing stirred in the deathly quiet room. Highly decorated pillars that must have been grand in their day now lay broken and faded. Maybe it had once been filled with joy, and the walls echoed with laughter. Now though, it was sad, forgotten; lost.

Slowly, he got to his feet, conscious of his wish not to disturb such an ancient place that appeared not to have been touched by any living creature for centuries.

A soft sound of somebody letting out a mournful sigh drifted to him from across the room. He was on his guard at once; he was not alone in here after all. Somebody else was with him in this place. As he turned his head to look, so did the other person. Their eyes met, one pair purple, the other pair blue. Upon their faces they wore the same saddened expression, and seeing this they exchanged rueful half-smiles. This place was not somewhere where any creature could smile fully. Not at that time.

The other was the first to speak, in her soft lilting voice. "It seems such a shame," she whispered to him. "After all the years we spent building this palace, decorating it with all our wealth and beauty, for it to fall into such unloved ruins."

Knuckles shook his head sadly. "Nothing lasts forever."

She tilted her head upwards, looking up into the blue sky visible through the many gaping holes left from the fallen masonry. "Not everything does," she said, eventually.

The red echidna blinked. He was in the palace still, but it was new. The roof was no longer broken, and the pillars stood proudly upright, supporting the structure like they had been intended to. The colours were newly painted, gleaming and sparkling in the brilliant sunlight that cascaded through the spaces between the pillars. There were beautifully crafted decorations too, items which must have perished by Knuckles's time. Outside, there was grass, though the air was still humid like that of Windy Valley. Birds twittered, flitting in and out of the building, singing their hearts out.

However, it was the people that most interested Knuckles, for they were all echidnas. It stunned him to see so many in one place, considering the severe lack in echidnas in his own time. There were many different colours; reds like himself, yellows, browns, to name just a few. One particular brown echidna gave him a surly glance and turned away to take some grapes from the buffet table. Knuckles grinned to himself a little, recognising him from his previous journey into the past, during the time when they were battling Chaos in the present. Sepia appeared wise enough not to try and fight him again, after his humiliation last time.

He passed on, walking past the other echidnas in a daze. None of them seemed to take any special notice of him. After all, they saw dozens of echidnas every day.

With a start that comes with realising that somebody has been watching you for a long while without your noticing, he jerked his head up. She was standing at the top of a flight of stone steps, smiling at him, reaching out a hand for him to come and join her. The other echidnas walking by seemed spectral for a moment, as if there was a clear pathway between them, and there was nobody else in the room but the two of them. She beckoned again.

Up the stairs he walked, as if in a trance. He reached out a hand to touch hers. For the briefest of moments his eyes closed. When he opened them again, the palace had fallen into ruin, and was silent once more. He was still at the flight of steps. Instead of holding her hand though, he was clutching a shard of the Master Emerald.

The weight of the ages descended on him once more, as he looked about him, then suddenly lifted. This place was not a sad one, for it had once been parley to many people's happiness. Nothing that could claim that could possibly be unhappy.

"Thank you," he whispered, though he did not know whether or not she could hear him. "Thank you for showing me that, Tikal."

***

Rouge edged cautiously around the corner of the cliff. The crying was louder now; she was nearing its source. She was not about to put herself in any danger out of curiosity though. After all, curiosity killed the bat.

What she saw round the corner though made her grind her teeth together in indignation. Two robots were dragging a baby turtle roughly along. She could see that they were hurting it, for the poor creature was bleating in pain and terror. "Lloyd knows what they're going to do to it," she muttered to herself.

Slipping back round the corner, she waited until the robots were about level with her then leapt at them. Her wings gave her that little extra boost so that her feet were level with their heads. Sharply, she brought her boots scything through the air in a pincer movement, smashing one robot's head from both sides. The other turned, trying to shoot at her, but a swift kick in the chest put paid to that.

Breathing heavily, Rouge stepped in closer to admire her handiwork. She flipped one over with her foot, and read the letters on the back. "G.U.N.," she said aloud. "Well, they certainly aren't making them like they used to-" She broke off, looking down. The other robot, that was not quite as dead as it had first appeared, had grabbed both her ankles in its steel hands. They dug in painfully, and it was all she could do not to yell aloud. She tried to move her feet, but it was impossible. Not one to panic, she attempted to break its hold on her using her hands. Unfortunately, this did not work either. Before she could try anything else, there was a crunching sound. The hold on her ankles was released. To her surprise, she saw that the robot's hands were snapped off its body.

The little turtle rubbed itself against her ankles like a cat. Rouge could not help but smile. "I guess one good turn deserves another, huh?" The turtle made a sound suspiciously like a purr. She kicked the robot hard, just to make sure that it was properly dead this time. Something rolled away from it, and she picked it up automatically. It was another Master Emerald shard. She wondered about that. It seemed an impossible coincidence that the very robot she had attacked should be carrying one.

Shrugging, the bat turned to go. There was a whining sound at knee level. Rouge looked down to see what had made the noise, and saw that it was the baby turtle. From the way that it was desperately trying to crawl after her, she supposed that it wanted to come with her. "Have you lost your mummy?" she asked it. Its leaps became more frantic, so she took that for a 'yes'. With a sigh, she picked it up. What was she letting herself in for?

***

The red echidna yawned like a cat. It was hard not to, with the hot stuffy air in there. He felt very much like curling up and going to sleep on the floor, though of course he would not. For about half an hour now, he had been tracking a mysterious and elusive creature, although by now he felt like giving up on his search. He knew there was another creature there by the footprints they left (a standard shoe shape with a pattern of grips that could belong to hundreds upon hundreds of Mobians), and the messages. These messages were drawn in the dust and the soft sand of the floor, presumably traced with a finger. The actually sentences themselves though, seemed childish. The last one had read:

'Follow, follow, follow, follow, follow the yellow sand road'

Knuckles had a suspicion that the phrase was based upon some book or other for children, though he could not be sure. Most of the others he had come across were parodies of nursery rhymes, fairy tales, fables, and other such things. Either he was following a child, or someone very like a child, for the footprints were as big as his own.

In the last ten minutes, he had not come across any more messages. He was about to give up and go looking for the shards, when he realised that he had just trodden on another sand-written sentence. Hastily stepping back, he read it, with a little difficulty considering it was now partly flattened. It said:

'Nearly there'

Did it know that he was bored of the chase? he wondered. Was it reassuring him? He decided he would give the game, for game it seemed like, another minute, then he would call it a day and go and hunt somewhere else.

The next sign he passed was an arrow, pointing to his right. Looking that way, he saw, to his delight, a shard. The creature must have put it there for him to find. Maybe it was a helpful person after all.

In the shadows on the other side of the chamber, a creature, not unlike Knuckles in shape, prepared to move onto the next chamber, after laying another clue for the red echidna to find. Their eyes shone brightly as they watched him pick up the shard. A ghost of a smile flashed across their face, then they were gone, melting into the shadows with barely a sound.

***

Rouge grunted as she put the turtle down for the third time, stopping to catch her breath. Feeling the creature's mildly accusing gaze upon her, she said, annoyed: "Don't look at me like that. You're just to heavy for me to carry in one go. It's not like you're that small, either. You're awkward to hold." The turtle whimpered a little, and began to crawl sadly away. The white bat sighed. "No, come back. I didn't mean to get angry with you." The turtle turned back, almost leaping on her. "I hope we find your mum real soon," groaned Rouge, stretching her arms and picking it up again.

She staggered once more in the direction of the lagoon, unable to see where she was going due to the baby turtle blocking her vision. Thus far, she had tripped over at least three times. It was a wonder that she did not fall into the water. At the last second, she felt that there was nothing but air underneath her probing foot, and retracted it quickly, falling down on her backside.

"Ow," she complained, sitting up and feeling very tempted to just abandon the vexing little turtle. This time however, the turtle was not concentrating on her. In the lagoon was another turtle, a much enlarged version of the one she had been carrying. She guessed that it must be one of its parents. Picking up the baby turtle gently as the progress it was making towards the lagoon was excruciatingly slow, she held it out to the large turtle.

It blinked at her slowly for a minute. She guessed that its eye was probably about the same size as her head, minus her ears. It looked gentle and kind, yet powerful too. It smiled at her. "Thank you for returning my child to me," it said, in a soft feminine voice. "I am very grateful to you."

Rouge watched the baby turtle splashing about happily in the water, glad to be with its mother once more. "Oh, it weren't nothing much," she said, embarrassed, twisting around on the spot. She was not used to doing heroic things, as most of her work was done for money, and so did not know how to take the praise that came with it.

The turtle shook her great head. "No, it was a lot to me. Is there any way that I can help you at all, in return for your services?"

Now, this was more of what Rouge was used to. Somehow though, she did not feel like it would be right to ask for anything material of her. I must be turning soft, she thought, disgustedly. "Well, I am looking for some green Emerald shards," she said, after a pause. "They make up a big Emerald, but it got broken, and the pieces went everywhere. If you could tell me where I could find any of them, that'd be a great help."

The turtle considered. She did not seem a very hasty creature. "Yes," she said eventually. "I think I might be able to help you." Rouge blinked in surprise, for the creature dove under the surface of the lagoon, moving gracefully down, down, until the bat could no longer spot her.

She yawned a little, and settled down to wait, idly moving her finger about in the water, making little ripples across to the baby turtle. The baby seemed to like this, for it made noises of delight, attempting to make its own back at her. Unfortunately, it was a touch to vigorous in this, and succeeded in creating a wave that soaked the bat to the skin. Rouge yelped aloud. Her dripping clothes clung to her skin, going translucent, and she shivered. She thought it was strange how the temperature of the air and the lagoon was warm, but as soon as the water hit her, it felt cold. The turtle made a sound that could have been a giggle, and swam swiftly away to the other side of the pool.

Rouge began pulling off her gloves and wringing them out, then proceeding to jump up and down to try and dry the rest of her garments off. She caught the baby looking at her, and glowered at it, though this made it giggle all the more.

"You really are very hard to dislike, you know that?" she called across to it.

A sound from the water: the mother turtle was surfacing. She had been away for twenty, maybe thirty minutes, Rouge reckoned.

"I have retrieved some of the Emerald shards," the turtle told her. "I hope they are enough, because I could not find any more." Onto the bank in front of Rouge, she dropped three of the Master Emerald shards, looking anxiously at her with her deep brown eyes, seeking her approval.

"Oh, sure," replied the bat, trying hard to disguise her excitement. "That's great, thanks a lot." She pocketed them.

The turtle smiled. "It is only a small service," she said.

Remembering what she had said before, Rouge replied: "No, it was a lot to me." The other laughed. "Well, thanks again. I guess I'd better be going to see if I can find more of my Emerald pieces."

"Wait," the turtle commanded. "Before you leave, I must know your name."

"You can call me Rouge if you like. All my friends do." Or they would if I had any, she added mentally.

"Well, Rouge, if you ever are passing by, or need help with something that I can aid you in, you only have to come and call on us." She dipped her head into the water, a turtle version of a bow.

"Uh, thanks. The same to you." Rouge managed to flash them a quick smile before hurrying away. She would have liked to stay longer with them, but something held her back. To someone who had never had any real friends before, their company was unbearable.

***

'Dig, dig, dig, all day long'

Knuckles read the sign drawn in the sand, then looked up at the dirt pile ahead of it. "No prizes for guessing what I've got to do here," he muttered, getting down on his hands and knees and scrabbling through the piled up sand.

Sure enough, his hand came into contact with another shard almost as soon as he had reached inside the pile. Gently, he took it out, brushing the sand off it. He then slipped it into his pocket, straightening up.

At first he had wondered if it was Tikal laying the clues, though he had swiftly decided against it. Surely she would just give him the shards properly, like she had done in the palace? Also, she would not write child-like clues. It would not fit in with her personality to do it like that. So, it had to be somebody else. His mind drew blank on that score, however, so he soon gave up on it, merely following the clues.

After a short while of searching, he came across the next clue, lying at the base of a tunnel.

'Follow me into the light'

Knuckles shuddered momentarily. He most certainly remembered that grim fairy tale of Mobian folklore. It had scared him the first time that he had heard it, for he had been very young then. He had been claustrophobic for weeks afterwards. Returning to the present, Knuckles shook himself mentally. What was he thinking of? He was not five years old now, and fables were not going to scare him.

As he followed the passageway upwards, the light became sickly and pale. The echidna began to wonder whether or not the passageway did lead out into daylight. For all he knew, he could be walking right into some kinda of trap. Still, his guide had been proved trustworthy thus far, so he had no reason to doubt them now.

Sure enough, around yet another steep turn, he found himself standing at the exit to the underground caverns. There was one slight surprise, however: that he was no longer in Windy Valley. Instead, he was standing at the top of a forbidding hill, looking down into an equally forbidding valley. The wind howled mournfully through the cracked branches of the trees. It looked like a perfect backdrop for a horror film.

He shivered, though more from the sudden cold than from any mysterious foreboding, setting off down into the valley.

***

After her embarrassed flight from the turtles, Rouge found it hard to concentrate on looking for the shards. She could not help thinking that she had made a mistake, that she should have stayed with them for at least a little while longer. It always happened that way. Why could she not get on well with people? Sure, she could flirt with the best of them, but when it came to actually making friends, she always bottled out.

"It's their problem, not yours," she said aloud, attempting to reassure herself. "Besides, I work better on my own. Nobody to get in my way."

Her words were drowned out by a loud buzzing sound, like that made by a giant bee. Quickly, she ducked down behind a ledge to watch whatever it was that was making the noise. The bat was just in time, for almost as soon as she had done that, a monstrous metal contraption flew past, looking altogether too big and cumbersome to be staying in the air. Her eyes widened slightly as she saw who was behind the controls: Robotnik. He had been trying to steal the Master Emerald, no, her Master Emerald, before, so perhaps he might know something about the whereabouts of the missing pieces.

Slipping out from her hiding place, she took noiselessly to the air, stealthily tracking the machine and its occupant. All self-pitying thoughts were forgotten.

***

Knuckles leapt a foot into the air as a huge pumpkin head crashed and bounced to the spot where he had been standing a moment before. It splattered upon impact, some of the mashed up pieces landing on his shoes. The echidna shook himself, his eyes searching the darkened hillside for the culprit. Not a shadow moved. Sighing, he bent down and wiped the pumpkin off his shoes. As he did so, something glittering on the ground caught his attention, and he jerked his head back to look at it.

There, half hidden in the remnants of pumpkin, lay a shard. He reached out, picking it up, stowing it safely with the others, before taking another swift scan of the hillside. It appeared that his benefactor was using a slightly different method of delivery this time. Well, it was fine with him if they wanted to do it this way, remaining anonymous.

"Yeah, right," he muttered to himself. "Who are you fooling? You're as keen as anything to know who it is."

He continued on his way, confident that the person would follow him whichever way he went. Due to his love of climbing and adventure, he decided to pick a path over the dangerous pile of rocks near the cliff edge, presumably left by some landslide. It would present no problem to someone of his ability and prowess.

His eyes picked out the best handholds with a practised ease. Up and up he climbed, avoiding the less stable chunks of rock without even having to consider or think about it. This was his terrain and skill, something that he had been doing all his life. He did not even break out into a sweat.

Halfway up the jumble of rocks, he paused, looking at the valley below. It seemed suddenly beautiful as it basked in the fading spectrum that the heavens had provided. The hues all combined gloriously together, making the previously chilling atmosphere seem positively friendly. Knuckles had seen some fine sunsets in his time, though not one like this for quite a while now. He lingered to watch it, oblivious to everything else around him.

On the ridge above him, a creature looked on in horror as another pumpkin crashed into the red echidna, taking him entirely by surprise. He tumbled forwards, going straight over the edge of the precipice. Knuckles tumbled away, becoming a red dot, then a pinprick, then a small splash on the surface of the roaring river below.

Not pausing for an instant, the figure took a running jump, leaping after the unfortunate echidna.

***

The white bat smirked a little to herself. Robotnik was supposed to be one of the cleverest people on the planet, yet he had shown no sign that he knew he was being followed.

"So much for the wonders of modern equipment," Rouge said aloud.

The former dictator's path had taken them into the Tario Desert, a branch-off of the more well-known Sandblast Desert. Rouge had heard enough about the area to realise that Robotnik would probably be unable to enter Sandblast itself. According to rumour, the place was supposed to be inhabited by magical creatures, who would not allow murderers to cross their borders. Sensible people, Rouge thought. It was on the whole not a good idea to invite killers around for a cup of coffee and liquors. If feasible, of course.

They had been in Tario Desert for a mere hour, and already Rouge was bored to death of her surroundings. Granted, it was not just sand; many tall structures of echidna-like creatures were arranged in neat if mysterious patterns, providing most of her cover. One or two, however, had broken rank, collapsing lengthways, others sinking into the sand. There was other examples of ancient stone-craft, from demure patchworks of tiles, to great pyramids in the distance. The parched desert did not interest her much though, for all its decor. Even with her white fur it was still too hot for her to comfortably manage. It was not somewhere she would wish to live for one moment.

The bat braked sharply, dodging behind one of the half-buried monuments. Robotnik had stopped, and, though she was not sure why, she thought it was for the best to keep out of sight for now. She watched what proceeded with interest (nobody was watching, so she did not have to pretend to be detached for the present).

From the bottom of the air-borne vehicle a set of legs folded out, neatly settling onto the ground with a faint hissing sound as the traction took hold. It did not even sway. A swift transformation followed, taking under ten seconds. By the time it was complete, it had returned to the form of the Egg Walker. Rouge had not seen this mode of it before, so watched its moves intently, in case this knowledge should come in useful later.

It began moving again, using the legs of the walker, since it was not equipped to fly in that mode, despite its being able to jump impressive distances. Robotnik flicked the controls, running it around the edge of a fallen statue, leaping over a quicksand pit, smashing down an obstructive pillar with its laser targeting system. Rouge watched him go for a minute or two, calculating where he was headed. It looked to her like he was going towards a large pyramid structure just visible on the horizon.

'Well, he might be taking the hard way,' she thought, 'but it's no reason for me to do the same.' She did not know about Robotnik's perhaps greatest flaw: his constant need to show off. Although there was nobody to witness his skill, or so he thought, he still wanted to do it the hard way, just to prove that he could.

Flying, Rouge avoided the hazards with ease, reaching the pyramid much quicker than Robotnik, who thus far had covered only half the distance. Alighting on the floor, she quietly stepped through the entrance. The change in atmosphere was immediate; she felt the temperature drop at once. She found it much more to her liking than the previous one.

In the appreciated cool shade of the pyramid's equivalent of a lobby there were three ways to take. One, the most obvious, was straight in front of her. It had been given a metal makeover: a steel door and a small panel to the right side of it. She stepped up to the panel, confident that she could crack any code ever invented. Unfortunately for her, it was also locked; the conventional way, with a keyhole.

Rolling her eyes, she stepped back, surveying the other two passageways. They were both open, having no doors or other up-to-date equipment on them. 'More inviting, at any rate,' she thought.

Producing a small com-link that she had concealed about her person, she activated it, waiting patiently for a click at the other end. It came after a short pause. Calmly, she spoke into it.

"It's Rouge calling. I've located Robotnik's base, and will shortly proceed to enter it. It looks like I'll have to find the key first, though. End of message." She switched it off without waiting for a reply. The bat knew the drill: there would be no person at the other end of the line, just a machine to take her message. Those to whom it mattered would review it immediately after the end of the call. It was safer that way for all concerned.

Before rushing off to find the key, Rouge stood considering the matter, as was her way. Of course, the key might be hidden in any number of secret crevices, nooks, or crannies situated down either of the two passages. Somehow though, she did not think so. She knew that old people liked to leave their spare pair of keys under the mat, or in a flowerpot; somewhere where they could easily collect them if they lost their normal pair. The bat was not sure exactly how old Robotnik was. He was not grey and wrinkly, at least, as far as she could tell, though that was no longer any indication - he might have had a face lift for all she knew. He would certainly have been able to afford it with all the money that he had amassed over the years.

With a quick movement, she swooped down with one gloved hand, digging it deep into a pile of sand by the door. A moment later she brought it back up, triumphantly bearing a blue-handled key in her fist.

"I guess he really must have had that face lift," she murmured.

Her movements swift and precise, she inserted the key, turning it in the lock. To her pleasure, as the mechanism made a clicking sound, the door swung inwards. She grinned, inwardly thinking about the terrible security the place had for a former dictator's base. As she slipped through the door, she made sure not to slide it to behind her. However much attention its being ajar may attract, it was nothing to being attacked in someone's secret base with the door locked.

She slipped in, edging along the corridor. Unfortunately for her, her every move was being recorded and watched. The carefully concealed security camera focused on the retreating figure as she slipped round the edge of the passageway. In the control room, a pair of blazing red eyes grew even brighter.

***

Knuckles sat up, coughing, spraying water out of his mouth; an animate gargoyle. Blearily, he pushed himself up, rolling over onto his knees. Still dazed, he almost got tangled up in his own legs. The echidna stared at them for a moment. Why were they in that position, one knee over the other? Come to think of it, the rest of his body had been arranged strangely too. It reminded him of something, though he could not think what. Of course, this gave him the nagging feeling that it was something he should know about.

Struggling to his feet, his world spinning gently, he looked about him at his surroundings. The place was cramped, not open, and smelt strongly of damp moss and lichen; rather unpleasant. At first he thought he was in a box, then realised that two of the sides were not closed off. He decided that he must be in a passageway instead. Gradually, it dawned on him that there was the spasmodic dripping of water nearby. Once he had noticed this, he began to find it very tedious. A dripping tap was some form of torture in at least one country, he was quite sure. So, he was in a passageway with water in it.

Cautiously, he reached out, touching one of the walls. The texture was slimy and cold. It would have been dangerous underfoot had it been on the floor also, as it was extremely slippery. Earth walls behind the moss though, so he must be underground. His eyes searched about for the light source. He discovered that it was only the numerous cracks in the boards above; without them it would have been quite dark.

"A mine?" he thought aloud. Possibly. At least with the boards there he knew that he should be able to force a way out if he had to. However, he was curious. He wanted to know where he was, and, more importantly how he had got there. He remembered being swept along by the merciless torrents of the river, then ... Well, he assumed that he must have passed out, for he did not remember anything else in between that point and his waking up. If there was water about, perhaps the river had flung him into the tunnel, though it could not have done it all the way, for there was not a trickle in sight.

Deciding on a route to take, he took a step forward. Something clinked as his foot brushed by it. Reaching down, he picked the object up, holding it up to the light to inspect it properly. It was some sort of medallion, hung about a chain. On an uncharacteristic impulse, he slipped it over his neck, then breathed in deeply. The air seemed sharper, more refreshing all of a sudden.

It was then that Knuckles remembered what was peculiar about the way he had been lying. Somebody or something had put him into the recovery position.

***

Metal Sonic, blue hedgehog robot, Mecha bot, and one of Robotnik's most loyal servants sat at the control panel, his red irises flicking around his black eyes as they monitored the security of the Tario Base. More specifically, he was watching Rouge. His data systems were having trouble discerning her species, for she was like no creature he had ever seen before. Whatever she was, she was most likely one of that cursed blue hedgehog's friends, trying to sabotage their latest base of operations. That was not something which was going to happen with him around.

At that moment, the door whirred open and Pip raced in. "Hey, Mecha," she said excitedly. "Guess what?"

"Yes, I know," he said seriously. "I am just considering a suitable course of action to take."

The robot bat looked crestfallen. "How did you know about my new magic trick?" she asked, miserably. "It was a really good one too."

Metal Sonic stared at her for a moment, trying to work out some sort of sensical reply. "I was referring to the intruder. It might be a good idea to save your, er, magic trick until later," he added, courteously.

"Wow, serious excitement alert!" All upset was forgotten at this piece of information. "An intruder? Where?"

He glanced up at the monitor screens above. "Just entering the main corridor at this moment, actually. I was just about to apprehend them." He strove to look gallant.

"Can I go and look for them? Please?" she asked, looking hopefully at him.

Mecha hesitated, a little sub-voice in the back of his robotic skull nagging at him that this probably was not the best of ideas. He looked at her pleading face again. "Of course."

"Wahey! Well, see you in a bit." She shot out of the room, only remembering to open the door second time round, such was her thrill at being the one sent on such an important task.

The blue robot sadly watched her go, then changed one of the screens' displays to follow her. In the corner of the room lay Heat, watching the proceedings through half-closed lids.

***

Due to the dim light, Knuckles did not notice the great cracks running across the floor until it was too late. One moment he was striding purposefully along, no longer edging inch-by-inch, the next the ground gave was beneath him. He leapt backwards just in time, his heart pounding with surprise more than actual fear. It had been close then. He did not know how deep the drop was, and probably did not want to either.

"Terra not so firma," he murmured, looking at the yawning hole.

Perhaps he should have exited then, ripping the boards away to create a path to light and wholesome air. However, for some reason unknown to him at that moment, he decided to glide over the pit, continuing on his route. This he did.

On the other side of the pit, he found something that glinted even in the dull light: a Master Emerald shard. So, the helper was still about. There was no way that the piece could have got there by itself.

Knuckles proceeded onwards, walking with great care for quite a while, before he allowed himself to become bold once more. Unfortunately, this was his downfall, literally. The ground split beneath him, and this time the echidna did fall. He was plunged into another passageway, built beneath the one he had been walking along, though long-ago flooded out. With the sudden cold shock, he forgot to try swimming for a moment, gasping for breath like a fish out of water. It took him a moment or two to realise that he was not drowning.

Steadying his breathing, he looked about him in wonder. This was surely not an illusion of water; it was too real for that. Then what could it ... Something resting on his chest. Looking down, he saw the trinket that had been left lying about and had fastened about his neck. He had completely forgotten about it by that time.

Lifting the medallion up, he studied it more closely. It was intricately crafted, made of some kind of metal, perhaps steel. There were blue parts on it that looked like, though they were not, enamel. The whole object had an almost Celtic design, appealing to Knuckles. He could just make out the inscription written in minuscule letters around the rim.

"Haveus sercarta; meltranium purdont."

It was the Ancient Echidna tongue. Mouthing the words to himself to guide him, he made a rough translation:

"Talisman of secrets; the power of breath."

He studied it for a moment longer, then let it slowly drop through the water until it came to rest on his chest again. So, it let him breathe in places where he normally could not, like the water that he was in at that moment. Knuckles smiled to himself. He could see that the talisman was going to come in very useful.

***

The white bat followed the humming sound, using her finely tuned sense of hearing. She traced it to a room where a slightly peculiar sight met her eyes.

Rows of computer terminals and important looking electronic equipment were inharmoniously set into the sandy stone walls of the pyramid. They contrasted sharply with one another; one set belonging to an age where architecture was the most important asset, and the other belonging to, well, the age of information technology.

"He could certainly do with changing his interior decorator," said Rouge, musing aloud. "You'd never catch half the population of Mobius dead with something like this."

"Well, if you give me the address, I can come round and insult your secret base, too."

She almost jumped, not having noticed anybody else entering behind her. They had not, either. A black robot bat stood in the centre of the room, arms folded. Around her, a faint blue shimmer still hovered, a tell-tale mark of her teleportation.

Rouge folded her arms too, unconsciously copying the other. "Well, honey," she said. "If I had something as pathetically sad as a secret base, I'm sure I would."

"Why, what do you live in then?"

"I live everywhere," she replied, emphatically.

"Not all at the same time, I take it?"

The white bat changed tack. "Do you own this place?"

Pip looked horrified for a moment. "That was a joke, right?" She paused for a moment. "What kind of creature are you, anyway?" she demanded.

"A bat. What do I look like?"

"I don't know, but you're definitely not a bat. You've got six limbs for one thing. I mean, why have you got wings on your back? You look more like a-"

The other interrupted abruptly. "At least I don't look like a mindless robot without two brain cells to knock together."

"Yep, glad I don't look like that either. It must be terrible."

Rouge had had to ask the question eventually. She decided that it might as well be sooner than later. "What do you want?"

The robot considered this. "I think that I'm supposed to be giving you a crash course in Grievous Bodily Harm."

The white bat threw herself flat just in time, so the first swipe went wide. She noticed that the robot had extended her claws so that they were a better length for fighting with. Rolling out of the way of the next assault, she dived behind the nearest computer bank. Pip, who had studied her first few moves and now knew what to expect was only an inch behind her.

Those claw tips just grazed the back of her head. She could feel the burning sensation that one gets from even a small graze or a cut there.

Acting quickly, she somersaulted over the computer bank, back-kicking hard with one foot. As planned, one of them crashed down, though just missing Pip, who skipped back in the nick of time. Flipping backwards, the robot rebounded off the wall, landing on top of the monitors above Rouge. The white bat made a dive for the door, but the Pip was there before her, driving her back into the room. Once more Rouge hid behind the computer bank, scurrying to the far end of the room. Not to be drawn away, the robot waited coolly by the door, tapping her foot on the floor in a show of mock impatience.

"Are you going to come out, or do I have to drag you? If you do come now then I most probably won't kill you. Much." She gave her the robotic version of a sweet smile.

"I think you might just have to drag me."

"I was joking," Pip explained, helpfully.

"I wasn't." Silence. "Will Robotnik get really angry about that broken computer?"

"Guess so. He tends to take things like that very seriously. He has about as much sense of humour as a dead louse, although he does tend to do this weird sort of manic laughter every so often."

"Just wondered." Rouge heaved with all her might on one end of the computer bank, then shoved it as hard as she could. Pip saw what was about to happen, rushing forward.

"No, don't do that," she began.

The white bat raced for the door, glancing back just in time to see the equipment smash to the floor. At least, most of it did. The rest of it landed on Pip. Triumphantly, Rouge walked swiftly away down the corridor, just in case somebody else came to check up on the situation. After all, you could never be too careful.

***

Robotnik had found the last stretch of his journey excruciatingly large. The Egg Walker and himself came under attack, seemingly from his own base. He could not know of course about the intruder, and that Mecha had switched the security levels to maximum in view of this development. All he knew was that he was destroying some of his best robots in order to access his base.

The latest model of robot that he had produced, the E-1000s, were rapidly being decreased as he was forced to blast them out of the way. It pained him to do it, considering the time and effort that had gone into them, though it was a case of 'him or me'.

To his immense relief he found that he was at the foot of the flight of steps leading up to the pyramid. He appeared to have exhausted whatever defence the base, his base, rather, had to offer. Robotnik debated whether or not to make a mental note to upgrade the defence systems if he could bypass them so easily. On second thoughts, he decided against it. He might have to break into his base another time, and he did not wish to lose more robots on top of those he had already.

Talking of robots, he was going to have several strong words with Metal Sonic when he found him. He was supposed to have been in charge in his absence.

"A fine job he's done of it," he growled, piloting the walker up the steps and into the ancient building.

Once inside, he went straight to the control room. Nobody was in there, though he found after a brief inspection that the level of security had been stepped up. Curious. Was something wrong, or had it just been an accident? On a quick glance at the visual monitoring screens, he saw to his complete and absolute horror that one of his main computer rooms had been wrecked. Even on camera the destruction appeared tremendous.

The door slid open. Robotnik turned quickly, half expecting some would-be-usurper to be there, waiting to attack him. Instead, it was Metal Sonic and Pip. The latter was looking more than slightly dishevelled and knocked-about, while the former was doing his utmost to help and support her. She did not actually need to be supported though, as she seemed to be walking quite well on her own.

"What happened?" he practically snarled at them, his lips drawn back, his voice ominous.

"Nothing ... too much," said Pip, in a dazed voice.

Furious, Robotnik jabbed a finger at the display of the trashed computer room. "What do you call that then?"

"Nothing too much," she repeated.

"There was an intruder in the base," explained Metal Sonic.

"Just the one?" he sneered. "From what I can see, it looks like a whole army's been in here. Probably why I was fighting my own outside."

Mecha glanced at the safety setter, as did Robotnik. It was impossible for the robot to look guilty; his face was unfathomable as usual, but the human had the feeling that he did not feel that particular emotion anyway. It was almost a reproachful look he was receiving, as if it was his fault for arriving at the wrong time. He backed down.

"Did you get them, then?"

"Not ... quite. There were complications." The look he was getting now was almost hostile.

He snorted. "Whatever. I don't want to know." His thoughts traced back to his original purpose for coming to the pyramid base. "Mecha, have you ever heard of a place called ARK?" Realising how this could be interpreted, he hastily added: "As in an actual name, not a kind of boat. It's a space colony. Built by my grandfather, Gerald Robotnik."

"Wow," said Pip, who seemed to have regained a slightly more advanced grip on reality. "You have a granddad? I'd have thought you were too old to have one."

"He's dead," said Robotnik, shortly, glowering at the robot bat through slitted eyes.

"Oh right. That explains it, I guess." What Pip thought it explained he was not quite sure, but decided to leave it be for the time being.

"I can locate it," Mecha intervened. He turned to one of the computers, accessed a satellite navigation system. Mecha did not type furiously, for that implies randomness, a lack of order. He typed fast, though precisely, not once having to backspace or press the delete button.

A minute or two passed. Robotnik was trying hard not to fidget, for he was growing nervous, wondering if it was possible that ARK could not and would not be located. He would never get the power that Shadow had promised him then.

Just as he was about to start really panicking, the blue robot glanced up. "I've got it," he said.

His master, still in the Egg Walker, came closer to take a look. It looked to him more like a meteorite than anything else; just a big chunk of rock hurtling through space. "Are you sure?"

"You had left your grandfather's calculations and writings on the network. Deducing what I can from them, ARK can be in no other place. My only suggestion is that it might be a simple precautionary disguise: a cover for the actual station itself."

Robotnik nodded. That did make sense. "Fine. Get me the co-ordinates then program them into the teleporter."

Metal Sonic did not need to look at the reading again: he already had it memorised. Bringing another window up, he skipped to manual control. Another minute of typing, and he had finished.

"It's ready," he confirmed. "You will most probably beam in on the bridge of ARK."

"The co-ordinates will be moving as the station is also doing so."

"I have taken that into account."

The other believed him; the robot was very through. He rarely missed a procedure out, and hardly anything got past him. "Fine. You will be staying here to keep an eye on things. It might be a wise idea to catch that intruder before I get back, too." Robotnik was not the most forgiving and forgetting of people. "As for you, you're coming with me to ARK," he added, turning towards Pip.

"Why?" she asked, curiously.

He hesitated, for some reason loathe to mention that it had been requested of him. "I just thought it might be harder for you to wreck anything with me watching you."

"I don't think it'd make much difference, actually."

"Do you want to come or not?" he snapped.

"Sure, sure. C'mon Heat." The chao uncurled from where he had been lying in the corner of the room, scampering across the floor. With one great bound he leapt up onto his master's shoulder. Robotnik almost jumped. He had not noticed him there until that moment, he had been so still and quiet.

He said nothing, piloting the Egg Walker out of the door toward the room which held the teleportation system. With a quick "Bye Mecha!", Pip followed. Down the other end of the corridor, someone else watched them go.

Slipping out of the shadows, careful that there was nobody there to see her, came Rouge. Silently, she followed along the path that Robotnik had taken, coming to a halt against a huge slab of rock with many hieroglyphs carved into it. It was distinguished by the red background that made the ancient words and letters easily readable, to those who knew the language. Well, she had never liked Foreign Languages anyway.

She stood by the rock for a short while. When she judged that she had given them enough time, she pressed one of her large ears to the door. There was no sound from inside. "Good," she thought aloud. "They must have skedaddled already."

The white bat pressed hard on a stone that she had noticed before, protruding slightly from the otherwise regular wall. Just as she had expected, it grated upwards. With her usual confidence, she strode straight on into the room.

It was square; about five metres both ways. On the side opposite the door was a small selection of glowing electronics. Writing was projected onto the wall, the same luminous green as the equipment. Instinctively, she looked down at her feet. She was standing on a circular patch, quite different from the rest of the floor. It appeared to be part of the electronics, and gave off a pale yellow light.

"It's a space transporter," she said, impressed. Those were highly expensive pieces of equipment, mostly because of the infrequent need for their production. Her eyes scrolled down the information that illuminated the wall. "The destination has been set to ..." She paused, her eyes widening a fraction. "ARK? Wasn't that space colony shut down, like 20 years ago? What's he doing up there, anyway?" She shook her head, tapping out a command onto the display. Expensive, certainly, but it was still easy to figure out. "It doesn't matter. It's my mission to find out what that nutter's up to, or my name isn't Rouge the Bat."

Rings of purple spiralled up around her body. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a pillar split up and down, the mechanisms in it activated. A few seconds later, she had vanished from the room.

***

Laughing with pleasure in an near child-like way, Knuckles swam through the underwater tunnels. It was exhilarating, the feeling of being able to swoop and glide through the water, without having to hold his breath, nor feel the constant pressure on his lungs. He wondered how the talisman worked. Was it some sort of close clinging force field? The water still moved freely about him, its cold enlivening touch all around his body. Perhaps ...

His thoughts were cut off by something ahead of him. He could not be sure, though he thought he had seen a creature, although he could not determine anything about it if creature it was, whipping round the bend ahead of him. Swimming strongly, he streaked through the water after it. He reached the corner in no time at all, only to see the same mysterious creature disappearing round the next bend.

So it went on, for nearly half an hour, the other creature always that little bit ahead of him. Even when he stopped, or he was slower, it happened in exactly the same way. He could have walked it then run it then walked it again, and it would still have gone on like that.

He was despairing of ever catching the figure, when he turned a bend and found, not a person, though a ledge where he could climb out of the water. Heaving himself upwards, he pulled himself over the edge. A puddle of water formed around his shoes as he stood up, shaking himself, his dreadlocks twisting with his body motions. However, he noted that it was not the first puddle to form there. So, he was not mad. He was chasing something real.

As he became aware of the sounds and noises about him, the first thing he noticed was a thundering roar. It was produced by the masses of water gushing out from an opening in the rock he was standing on. The layout was something similar to a sewer, though with much taller sides, and pure water instead of waste and filth. The opening was coming out of his side of the rock, flowing and dropping away into another, lower down opening on the other side. People less hardy than the echidna might have stepped back at the dangerous power presented by the torrents.

The sounds of the rushing water were so loud that they masked the approach of a group of three glistening reptiles. All three stood on their muscular hind legs, showing their creamy underbellies, textured no differently from their tough leathery green skins. Their faces, bodies and limbs were decorated with strange painted markings, quite beautiful in their way, though none the less chilling for that. The leading reptile's markings were stronger, more vivid than those possessed by the other two, showing him, or her, to be the leader. Their yellow snake-like eyes glittered malevolence, not dulled by the lightless lives they led. Forked tongues shot out occasionally, testing the air about them. In their mean little clawed hands they carried no weapons, for they needed none: their sharp fangs and claws served for all their purposes. These creatures were not Mobian in origin, but had mutated into these forms over the years spent in the dark mines. Their species was known as malusites, to those who knew or cared.

Most malusites were friendly, if shy, creatures. These three were different. They had been outcast from the mine tribe for their bloodthirsty nature, even having attacking members of their own species. Had the malusites been more impulsive creatures, they might have been hunted down to prevent them being a danger to others. Unfortunately, this was not the case.

They came forward cautiously, making barely a sound on the dirt of the floor. None of those three malusites had ever seen an echidna before, and did not know what to make of him. One, the leader, suddenly overcame his fear, taking a great bounding leap at Knuckles.

Hearing the faint sound, the echidna turned round. If he had not ducked straight away, it was possible that his eyes would have been gouged out. He turned his duck into a roll, getting out of range of his attacker. As they passed, one in the air, the other on the ground, the malusite swiped his at his back, drawing blood.

The other two, seemingly excited and encouraged by this, rushed at him. Unfortunately for them, they were young and inexperienced fighters, while Knuckles had been fighting all his life. One swift lash with his booted foot caught one of them in the shins. It stumbled backwards, falling into the churning water below with a terrible wail of despair before it was dragged under, its screams muffled.

He felt another rush of pain in his back: it was the leader of the strange creatures. It had sprung onto his back and was sitting astride him, raking his back cruelly.

The malusite had only been there for a moment before it was roughly pulled off, shrieking with rage. Knuckles almost fancied that he heard a voice say softly "Don't worry" close by him. He turned, catching a brief glimpse of two shapes disappearing into the watery death-trap.

Something made a clumsy grab at him: the third and last of the malusites. Without much effort, it too fell over the edge.

Only when the adrenaline ceased its action-charged flow did he feel the pain. Taking off one of his gloves, he reached round to his back. It felt hot and sticky, stinging at his touch. After a little more gentle probing, he managed to reassure himself that it was just superficial.

Then he looked around for the person who had helped him. There was nobody there. With a strangled cry, he rushed to the edge of the platform, though of course he was far too late. He had seen two figures falling, not one. There had only been three attackers, therefore it had been his mysterious helper who had gone over too.

A small tear blinked itself from his eye, and was quickly wiped away. His wonderful rescuer and leaver of messages must surely be drowned. After all they had done for him, protecting him, leaving him the shards, he had allowed them to die.

Furious with himself he turned away, striding briskly down the passage. No eyes followed him this time, from in front or behind.

***

Downstream from where the water gushed out of the rock, a large purple cat sat fishing. A belt was fastened around his furry white chest to suit what he called his 'three slice girth'. He was large by both nature and name, as he was aptly called 'Big' by all who knew him. A little frog sat at his side, watching his cast off. Having little imagination, the cat had named his pet 'Froggy'.

He sat for a while, humming to himself. So far that day he had caught only one solitary fish, and that had been so small that it was not even worth counting.

Without warning, there was a sharp tug at his line. With a surprised yell, he overbalanced into the river, creating a tidal wave of a splash that washed up and down the banks. Froggy hopped away in terror, aided somewhat by the great wave. He stopped a couple of yards away, his bulging eyes watching the scene with caution.

"Hey, watch it," complained a voice that was not the cat's. "What are you trying to do? Squash me?"

***

Shadow stood on the bridge of ARK, gazing out of the clear glass panel, not seeing what was in front of him. He was thinking of Maria, although he was trying not to do this too much, lest it distract him from fulfilling her wish. Also creeping into his thoughts was the blue hedgehog he had encountered before. What had he said? That the military had mistaken that hedgehog for himself? How could they possibly make such a mistake? Maybe they were accusing all hedgehogs. He doubted that they would go that far to get him back though. Perhaps the blue hedgehog was sent by G.U.N. in fact, to try and trap him. Well, if so, it had not worked.

A whisper sounded behind him; the familiar one produced by teleporters. He had heard that sound hundreds, perhaps thousands, of times before as he and Maria crouched down in their hiding places, watching the people come and go via them. They had found it amusing to spy on them, trying to guess what their purposes or errands were. It had been Maria's idea.

The hedgehog did not turn, but stayed watching out the glass. He could see them in the reflection anyway. There was Robotnik, in the machine that he had been in last time he had see him. There was also a robot bat with something perched on their shoulder that had a distinctly cat-like appearance.

"You've come," he said, calmly.

"Yes." The human paused, wondering what to say next. "So, this is the space colony ARK. Impressive." He waited for a response that did not come. "You said to meet you here?" he added. There was an undertone of question in his voice.

"True." He finally turned round, holding out one hand to show Robotnik what he held. "I have this Chaos Emerald. We need the other six now."

"And may I ask what for?" He was trying to keep the impatience out of his voice, though it did not work too well.

"To power the eclipse cannon." The other drew in his breath sharply: he had read of that vessel of destruction in his grandfather's notes. "You have heard of it, I see. It is the ultimate weapon, with the power to destroy a whole planet if needbe."

"It needs just the Chaos Emeralds, nothing else?" Shadow nodded.

"I know where three of the others are. They are on Prison Island, the military base of G.U.N. where you first met me."

Trying not to seem too elated, Robotnik voiced his doubts rather than his more excited and positive thoughts. "Still ... there are the others, and they are not exactly easy things to come by." He flinched at past memories involving the emeralds.

"Luckily for you, I'm just the person to help."

Robotnik almost jumped; he had not heard another creature's approach. All four looked to the teleporter. Rouge was standing there, hands on hips, head tilted slightly to one side. It had not taken her long to follow Robotnik and the robot.

"Who's this?" snarled the aforementioned, attempting to cover up for his earlier fright.

"The intruder," said Pip, brightly. "Hi again," she added, giving the white bat a little wave.

"If you think you can just come in, invade and destroy an essential part of my base, then expect me to let you in on this, then you've got another thing coming." Robotnik powered up his weapons.

"Chill, chill," drawled Rouge, waving his statement aside with one hand. "I was just trying to meet you. It was your robots who attacked me and started wrecking the place. Anyway, now that I've finally found you, you might as well listen to what I've got to say." Robotnik grunted ascent, his ego flattered by the fact that someone had been trying to find him.

She continued, keeping her statement brief and to the point. "I'm a treasure hunter, and what's more, I specialise in gems. If you let me help you, you won't regret it."

"Why should I-" he began, then stopped as Rouge held something up in one hand. It was a Chaos Emerald, the white one. She smiled, knowing that there was no way that he could refuse her offer after that.

The obese human hesitated, shooting a swift glance at Shadow. The hedgehog's face was expressionless. "Fine," he said. He could not help thinking that a qualified gem-finder would come in useful. "But don't forget, I'll be watching out in case you feel like double crossing us."

"Whatever. So, this cannon thing will be pretty powerful with those emeralds, right?"

"It will have the power to blow up the whole of Mobius," Robotnik boasted, with a fleeting look at the black hedgehog to confirm this statement. Shadow neither agreed nor disagreed.

Pip raised her hand politely, as if they were in a meeting of directors of some company or other, or in a courtroom case. "Objection," she said. "If you destroy Mobius, what place are you hoping to rule, exactly?" Heat smirked inwardly. He had the feeling that his owner was about to re-embark on her quest to annoy Robotnik.

"I'm not going to destroy Mobius. All I'm going to do is threaten to destroy it so that they will be forced to bow to my wishes."

"Ah, I see," she said, speaking very slowly in an animated voice as if Robotnik was a half-wit, or perhaps quarter-wit. "What happens when someone realises that you aren't going to destroy it?"

Robotnik looked exasperated. "They wouldn't take the risk."

Rouge decided to have her say in the matter heard. "You could always try destroying it anyway, then colonise the moon or something."

"That's a good idea, apart from one little point: you need people to colonise anywhere, and there won't be any people left if Mr. Genius here has his way." Pip stroked Heat's head, allowing him to curl up in her arms.

"Actually," the chao said, quietly. "I think that if Mobius was destroyed then there is a good chance that the moon might also be destroyed due to the fact that it orbits Mobius and the gravitational pull would be intimately disrupted."

There was silence for a moment. "I always did hate physics," Rouge muttered.

"Anyway, my point still stands," added Pip.

It was possible that Robotnik might have been freer with his words had he not been arguing with someone so potentially dangerous. "For the last time," he snapped. "I am not going to destroy the planet."

"But we're not talking about the planet. You need to pay attention more. We're moved on to people now. Y'know, the things that walk around and interact with each other, like talk for example. Unless they're plants of course, in which case they don't do much of either of those things. Actually, plants aren't people anyway, so I don't know why I just said that."

"So," said Rouge, under her breath. "For how long have you been a raving nutter?" Though the bat had not meant her to hear, she did.

"How am I supposed to know? I don't count."

"That explains a lot," said Robotnik, darkly.

Shadow had remained silent throughout this conversation, allowing the words - especially the robot bat's - to flow over him. He could not shake off how similar to Maria's voice hers was. No, not similar, identical.

The meeting broke up after a few more exchanges, and they began to drift away to their separate tasks. They had resolved to wait until the next day to try and steal the Chaos Emeralds from Prison Island. Shadow, on some impulse, found himself calling out after the black robot. She glanced back round at him.

"Yes?"

The hedgehog hesitated. He had been thinking about this moment, about what to say for quite a few hours now. Unfortunately, all of the words seemed to have vanished from his head. "I want to talk to you," he said.

***

Two figures entered the chao garden, one moving more confidently than the other. Both were hooded and cloaked, one in black, the other in purpley-blue. The chao ran up to the visitors, happy to have a new distraction. Mainly, however, they flocked around the one wearing the purple-blue shimmering cloak, perhaps swaying towards the old proverb 'stick with what you know'.

"Go on! Do the eye thing!" yelled Clove ecstatically, jumping up and down, shoving some of the younger and smaller chao out of the way in his eagerness. Unfortunately for him, he pushed one dark chao who was bigger than him, and shoved him back. Though the two were rolling around on the floor, the cry was taken up by the others.

"Do the eyes! Do the eyes!" they chorused.

The figure gave the other an apologetic look. "They seem to love it when I do the traffic lights," they said, by way of an explanation. The other slowly nodded their cowled head, giving an eyrie effect.

"Go on!" urged Clove again, momentarily on top of his opponent. 

They sighed, pretending to think about it. "Well, I suppose so," they said, dragging out the words, "but only once, and you'll have to promise to leave us alone once I have."

The chao erupted into cheers, sitting down expectantly. The figure then drew back their hood, revealing themselves to be a black robot bat: Pip. Rolling her eyes for the benefit of the other cloaked figure, she began her act. Her ice blue eyes turned red. A great silence swept over all of the chao as they waited happily. Even Clove and the dark chao had ceased the fight to watch. Pip's glowing eyes turned to an amber colour, then, almost instantly to a lurid green. More cheers came from the chao.

"I really don't quite know what's so fascinating about it," the bat admitted under her would-be breath to the remaining cloaked figure. "Chao can like the strangest things." Then, to the chao she added: "Okay, the show's over now guys. You can buzz off now." They watched as the little creatures drifted back to what they had been doing before they had come, Clove doing a reasonable impression of a bumblebee as he went. "Come on."

She led the other over to the centremost palm tree, taking off her cloak as she did so. The other followed suit, though with more caution. It was Shadow, the black hedgehog. Pip motioned to him to sit, which he proceeded to do, resting his back against the tree, his limbs tense. He was not used to chao, and felt a little ignorant and uneasy in their presence.

"I did not know you could make your eyes do traffic lights," he remarked, managing to grin a little, despite his unease.

"You ought to see me when I'm doing pinball with them," she told him, smirking. "Wait here."

The Mecha bot went to the corner of the garden, picking up something from a container before sideling back to join him. She deposited the item in the turf in front of the hedgehog. Unceremoniously, she sat down, wrapping her wings around her legs and observing him, expectantly.

The object was a large black egg, roughly the size of his body. He gave it a suspicious, puzzled glance, as if wondering if it was about to explode. "What does it do?" he asked, eventually.

"Do?" The robot sounded amused. "It's a chao egg. It doesn't do anything as such, apart from hatch of course. They also come in an amazing variety of colours," she added, in her best air hostess voice. "Collect them all while stocks last. Not applicable at all major stores, and not redeemable at all minor ones. No refunds given. This does not affect your statutory rights."

Shadow gave the egg another hard stare, even more suspicious than the last. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Heat chasing one of the other chao, tickling him mercilessly with a feather whenever he came within range.

"Chao certainly do not appear to have any malice in them," he said aloud. A little pain stabbed at his heart. There had been too much malice in his life so far. Perhaps he could have done with meeting these creatures sooner.

"Oh no," Pip agreed. "They're really sweet." She watched Heat pounce on a butterfly that had innocently flown in. He raised his chao paws, allowing it to fly away again before jumping on it once more. "Most of the time." Raising her voice, she called: "Hey, Heat, stop torturing that poor butterfly!"

Heat turned, keeping his paws firmly on it. "I'm not torturing it," he cried indignantly. "I'm just playing with it."

"Yep, and does the butterfly know that?"

The golden cat chao sighed, rolling his eyes. "I doubt it has gained the intellectual capacity to consider such a problem due to the fact that butterfly's lives are renowned for being short and meaningless voids."

Pip's eyes winked on and off; a robotic blink. "Erm, okay," she said. "Carry on."

The hedgehog actually managed a proper smile, for the first time since ... No, he must not dwell on that. He felt that Pip was like the chao, not someone who was using him or would harm him. They were kind people. He was safe here. Maybe he might even be able to stay. Shadow hurriedly shook these thoughts from his mind. He could not stay there: he had a task to accomplish. Maria had depended on him; he could not let her down now.

"What do I need to do with it, then?" he asked, returning to his earlier question.

"Keep it until it hatches. Then you'll have a chao of your very own. You'll have to look after and care for it of course. Feeding it, petting it, you know the sort of thing."

"No."

"You'll soon learn."

Did he even want a chao? He could not remember actually saying 'Yes' to it yet. To his surprise, he found that he did. They were so ... innocent. He watched as they dragged Pip off to perform another trick for them, the robot pretending to resist, though really doing nothing of the sort. Her too. All of them seemed free of the evil that he felt was closing in on the world. Friends.

A nasty thought crept into his mind. Maria had been like that too, and look what had happened to her. He made up his mind to protect his chao fiercely when it hatched, so that it would not fall victim to a similar fate.

Pip came back, still laughing. "See what I mean? You'll love it when yours hatches."

Shadow hesitated a moment. He felt that if he was going to ask his all-important question, it would have to be at that moment. "I want to show you something." Pip, who was a living proof that curiosity did not kill the bat, looked interested. She waited while the black hedgehog produced something: a small photo. "I need you to find out about me. About my past."

The bat took the photo, looking at it closely. It was a human girl, fair skinned with blonde hair and bright blue eyes. She was smiling in the photo, obviously enjoying some joke, or perhaps just happy to be alive. "She looks like she's off Thunderbirds," was her eventual snickered verdict.

Shadow held her gaze steadily. He did not know what 'Thunderbirds' was, but he was not going to admit to that. "I need to know what happened to her. Can you do this for me? I would not trust anyone else with this task."

"What's her name?" she asked, honoured.

"Maria."

"What happened to her then?"

The hedgehog shrugged, non-comittally. "That is what I want you to find out."

"I'll do what I can," Pip promised.

"Thank you." He paused again. "Do you know why I agreed to meet Robotnik?"

She shook her head. "I thought you just did. I didn't know there was a reason."

"It was your voice."

The bat looked puzzled. "My voice?" she repeated.

"Maria, the girl in the photo. You have the same voice as she does." He almost corrected himself to 'did', but remembered his supposed ignorance just in time.

Pip sat back. "What a coincidence."

"How so?"

"Well, on average I make up a different voice to use every week. I never keep the same one for very long. It seems a little funny that you should hear me talking when you know someone with the same voice."

"Funny?"

"You know, weird. Strange."

"Ah. Yes, it is ... funny."

Pip glanced up suddenly, turning her head this way and that. "There's some people coming," she said. "It's probably the owners. We'd better be going." She stood, pulling the cloak back over herself, holding out a hand to Shadow to help him up. The hedgehog was reluctant to leave, though he knew they must. Accepting the hand, he got to his feet, draping his cloak on, picking up the chao egg. Heat scampered over to join them.

When Samantha and the others walked in, there was only a faint bluish glow left hanging in the air to show that anyone had ever been there.


	4. Creation and Destruction

_________________________________  
Chapter 4: Creation and Destruction  
~The rescue of Sonic from Prison Island~   
________________________________________ 

The opaline hedgehog pounded one hand into the other, in her most decisive manner. She was standing in the chao garden, surrounded by Tails, Amy, Citras and Riot. The other chao were also crowded around, acting as interested third parties.

"We've got to do something," said her sister excitedly, before she could speak. "Like rescue Sonic." Riot had filled them in on what had happened to the blue hedgehog since they had seen him taken by the G.U.N. soldiers.

"He said I'd turn into Eggman though," whined Clove, tugging at her ankles. "I don't wanna rescue him if he says mean stuff like that to me."

Riot Yasani rolled his little orange spirals. "That is a good thing, since you were not invited to come." The light chaos chao glowered at him while the omochao smiled peaceably, if patronisingly, back.

"I've got a speedboat down by the docks that we can use," Samantha told Tails and Citras. "We can use that to get us to Prison Island. It should be big enough to fit us all on."

They nodded. "I guess we'd better start off sooner rather than later then, in case they're going to do something to Sonic." Seeing Amy's expression, Citras quickly added: "Not that I think that's likely. It's just better to be safe than sorry."

"We can discuss the rest of the plan on the boat then," said Tails, already starting towards the door. The others hurried after him. Samantha, last to leave because she was the one with the key to lock the gardens against strangers, was stopped by Clove.

"The cloaked person was here again." Sam froze for a moment, glancing back to see if Citras or Tails had heard. They had not; they were too far away. "She didn't leave money this time though, but she and the other one took an egg," the chao continued, importantly.

Amy, who had not heard any of this called: "Come on!" from behind her. Samantha hesitated: she had not the time to pursue this further. "Well, so long as it was just the one, I guess that's all right. Coming," she added to the others.

It was only when they were at the docks that she noticed that Clove had said 'she' and 'the other one'. By then though, it was far too late to go back and ask about it.

***

Samantha drove the speedboat across the water determinedly. Her companions received a fine coating of spray, adding to their growing feelings of excitement and expectation. The craft cut through the water smoothly. According to their wristwatches, they had only taken twenty minutes to get to where they were.

Tails was worried about Sonic, though he tried not to show it. He did not want to dishearten the others, especially Amy, who was dancing about as if the ground beneath her feet was composed solely of hot coals. Citras was sitting, expressionless at the end of the boat, one hand trailing in the water; lost in thought. Every time one of the other looked at him though, he managed to flash a reassuring grin. As for Sam ... Tails grinned to himself. She looked like she had taken her pose straight off the cover of an 'Action Kid' playset - 'the only fully poseable adventure toy for all ages and habitats'. He suspected that she was quite enjoying herself. Riot stood by her side in the prow of the speedboat, occasionally giving directions. The chao always seemed to be as cool as a cucumber, he thought.

The fox's ponderings upon his companions were broken off by Samantha glancing round, calling to them to get their attention. "Look." They followed her pointing finger, seeing the island that was rapidly approaching. What seemed like a couple of minutes before, it had been a mere pinprick on the horizon.

There was not much doubt, but Citras asked the obvious question all the same. "That's Prison Island?"

Amy, who had stopped jumping up and down when she had seen the island, nodded her head up and down vigorously. "Uh-huh. It's a really scary place, isn't it? If it wasn't for Sonic being held there I wouldn't have come." She shuddered. "I'm sure glad it isn't me in there."

It did indeed look forbidding, and above all impenetrable, though not to the extent Amy was describing.

"Should we try and circle round the island and some at it from a different angle?" Tails suggested.

Samantha did not respond herself, instead turning to Riot for the answer. "No," said the chao, at once. "There's no point. It wouldn't do any good weaving, either. The best way to approach would be to just go straight at it; we'll escape detection longer that way. The more time it takes to get there, the more chance there is of being discovered prematurely in our operation."

The opaline hedgehog nodded, looking back at the others. "Are you all ready for this?" Her gaze lingered longest on Amy. Her little sister was less able to take care of herself than the others, and she was concerned for her. The last thing she wanted was for something to happen to her. After all, she had already been captured on numerous occasions. "It's going to be risky. Even if we manage to rescue Sonic, we'll most probably be branded as terrorists, or criminals." What if Amy was arrested? What would their parents think?

The pink hedgehog drew out her large mallet that she had somehow folded up to a convenient pocket size - Sam was never sure how she did it - and met her gaze squarely, a look of childish determination upon her face. "If I beat Zero with this thing I can beat those G.U.N. robots for sure," she told her. Sam smiled.

***

Sonic sat slouched in his cell, staring dejectedly at the walls. They had scribblings all over them, like a scientist's notebook.

"Shows how bored people must get in here," he muttered. "It's more likely to kill you than the starvation." Thus far, they had not given him one morsel of food. He thought this a bit harsh, considering that he did not even know what he was supposed to have done. "And it shows how often they clean the place," he added disgustedly, as that thought dawned on him.

"I guess they must not be very tolerant with prisoners of any kind. I wouldn't know though, since it's not my sector."

The blue hedgehog looked up in surprise. He had been so lost in his self-pity that he had completely failed to notice anybody entering the cell-room. When he saw who it was, he brightened up considerably.

"Hey, Alice. You haven't come to jail-break me have you, by any chance?" he asked, hopefully.

The pilot stepped up to the stainless steel bars. "Afraid not. I did bring you some food though. Here." She passed him through several sandwich packets, a bag of crisps and an apple. "It's the best I could do," she added apologetically. "I took it from the canteen they've got here."

"It's great, thanks." He tucked in hungrily, then glanced up, his expression guilty. "Sorry I couldn't return the parachute. I think I can give you directions to where I left it, although I don't know that part of the city too well. Perhaps if-"

She shook her head, smiling. "No, don't worry about it. It's fine. I'm more worried about your being captured right now."

"Isn't there surveillance in here?" asked Sonic, through a mouthful of sandwich. "If there is, I'd be a little more careful what you say."

"Oh." She looked a little downcast. "I forget about that kind of thing at times. I guess I must have inherited it from my mum." She stopped quickly, before quickly rushing on. "Luckily though, I got most of my dad's skill with machines and computers, so they kind of balance out. I just forget that other people can use them too at times. That's all." Sonic watched her, confused. He was not quite sure, but he felt that she had contradicted herself several times with those last few remarks.

She continued. "I think I'll go down to the docks for a while. I'll probably be back later though, so see if you can think of anything that you might want in the meantime, okay?"

He nodded. "Thanks again, Alice."

"Any time."

She left, leaving him to mull over his thoughts once more. This time though, it was made better by the fact that he was doing it on a full stomach.

***

The four Mobians and the chao crept swiftly and silently across the docks, towards the jungle area that surrounded most sides of the G.U.N. complex. They all knew not to make a sound, lest they alerted the troops to their presence. When they were almost at the fronded edge, Amy let out a squeal, rushing forwards. The others froze, all apart from Citras, who ran after her.

Before the others could go anywhere, there was the click-click-click of metal studded boots coming towards them. Considering that they were trespassing, Samantha realised that they would most probably be shot if they ran at that point. The opaline hedgehog gently rested one hand on Tails's arm, letting him know without words that they should stay still. He stayed, but reluctantly. He could not help feeling that they might be just as likely to be shot if they stayed as they would if they followed the others.

A human soldier in standard-issue camouflage uniform ran towards them. The three stood their ground, watching his advance. He had no stripes on his shoulder nor badges on his clothing, so they assumed him to be of low rank. The soldier stopped, breathless, in front of them. He had a gun holstered at his side, but he had not taken it out. Obviously, they did not appear to be much of a threat.

"What are you doing here?" he demanded, using the familiar clipped tones that they associated with army people.

"We just came," Sam replied sweetly, flashing him a cute touristy smile. "I'm looking after my friend's little boy-" She indicated Tails with a small yet theatrical hand gesture. "-and I thought we might cruise around the islands a little. He's into exploring you know, and wants to be famous when he's older." The hedgehog gave the guard a 'don't we all at that age' wink. "I hope we're not doing anything wrong? His parents would be awful mad with me if I'd got him into any trouble."

He hesitated, partly won over by her smile and charm. "Well, strictly speaking you're not really supposed to come here, Miss. It's supposed to be a government military base to carry out top secret investigations and activities. Since it's your first time trespassing though, I think it might be okay to let you off. Just this once you understand. You mustn't come here again."

"Oh no, sir. We wouldn't dream of doing something like this again, not now we know that it isn't legal." She gave him one final smile, then turned to the others. "C'mon, you two. We'd better go and let the nice Mr. Solider get on with guarding his island." She steered the fox away, Riot following at her heels. When they were far enough away not to be overheard, she hissed, through her teeth: "Thank Lloyd for that. My mouth was really beginning to hurt with all those darn smiles."

Tails tried hard not to laugh. The three of them clambered into the speedboat, Sam flicking the engine through its paces. They shot off over the calm water, creating a rippling bow-wave in their wake. "What about Amy and Citras?" asked the orange fox anxiously.

"They'd have been in real trouble if we'd said anything about them being there. The guard had no reason to think that there was anyone there but us, so they should be safe for the time being." She bit her lip. "I hope Citras is looking after Amy."

Riot spoke up. "I am sure he will be if he caught up with her. Don't worry about them. Right now, we've got to concentrate on how to get back to the island. You never know, the guard might say something that puts them on the lookout for crafts like ours."

Samantha shrugged, turning off the engine, allowing their craft to drift. They were far enough away from Prison Island to satisfy safety measures. "Sure, but I don't have anything else that will go across water other than this boat. I can't see how we're going to get back there any other way. Perhaps if we came at it from a different angle ..." She trailed off, knowing that it was too far fetched.

"Why don't you organise a chao protest?" suggested Tails, grinning a little. He knew how much the opaline hedgehog believed in the powers of chao.

Even she hesitated over this though. "I'm not sure," she said, doubtfully. "Those soldiers might stand on them with their great big clomping boots, or worse, they might laugh at them. No, we're going to have to do this ourselves."

Tails stood stock still, wondering how he had not thought of the solution before. The others looked at him, sensing him stiffening with excitement. He talked fast, though he was still comprehensible. "We're going to need to go back to the mainland, to the warehouse where I stored my walker. If we can get that up and running, then we can use that to cross the sea. I designed it so that the legs could fold up and it's got enough jet power to keep it up. We only need to finish it off. It shouldn't need a lot doing to it."

The hedgehog grinned at him and set them whizzing across the water even faster than before, shooting a fine mist of spray up from either side of the vessel. She shouted something over the combined roar of the engine and sifted water. He could not hear exactly what it was, though he certainly got the gist: she approved of his idea.

***

It was several hours later, and the guard was long gone back to his work. Three figures stood at the docks on Prison Island: one hedgehog, one bat and one human in a mechanised walker. The floor was tarmacked, stretching for quite a way so that lorries and perhaps even private planes could travel up and down it. At the side was a path for pedestrians to use. It overlooked the deep water of the ocean. Strangely enough, there were no barriers to prevent people from falling over the side, only a slight incline in the sidewalk. Gulls wheeled overhead, cawing raucously. The sky was a shade of blue just nearing navy, with quite a few fluffy clouds lining the horizon, prophesising a storm later.

Surprisingly enough, they had found it relatively easy to actually arrive on the island base. If they had been expecting booming loudspeakers and the firing of missiles, then they would have been highly disappointed. On the other hand, if they had been expecting Robotnik's anti-radar equipment to work, then they would not. Needless to say, they had been anticipating the latter. The human's genius for machinery was renowned.

Robotnik cleared his throat. "Is everybody clear on what they have to do?" They nodded. A thought seemed to occur to the human. The obese human waved one hand in a theatrical gesture. "Shadow, Rouge, on with the show. Before I go anywhere though, I think I will make a quick call to the ARK." Robotnik himself was not one of the most vital parts of the operation. He would be the one who was keeping surveillance on everybody else, including G.U.N.. Also, if anybody tried to follow the other two from the outside, he would be able to blast them with the Egg Walker's superior weaponry.

The two nodded again, going their separate ways. Rouge was to do the actual stealing of the Chaos Emeralds, since that was the field in which she had the most experience. Shadow was going to be planting explosives. Robotnik was not on the whole sure why they had chosen to do this. He liked to think of it as a message to the world that they meant business. It had been the hedgehog's idea, he remembered. He also remembered that he had not liked the look that had come into his eye when he had suggested it. Shadow had said something, too.

He dialled the code, waiting impatiently for Pip to answer so that he could get on with his end of the mission. While he waited, he remembered what it had been that the hedgehog had said.

Revenge.

***

The jungle was dense, and the pink hedgehog wandering through it was already lost. Ten minutes after she had run headlong from the others, she had begun to regret her rash action. That had been what seemed like days ago. It might have been too, she thought, if it were not for the fact that it was still light.

Her reason for leaving the others had been simple. Amy had caught a glimpse, or at least she thought she had, of a golden echidna. Remembering her previous adventure with Sonic, she had recognised her as Tikal, the echidna from the past. Lost, all alone in the jungle, she was beginning to doubt that she had ever really seen anything.

She looked about her. The glade she was in was seemingly identical to the hundreds and thousands of others that she had already passed through. In the soft earth, she saw footprints walking from one end of the clearing to another. Scared, she looked behind her. Was someone else following her? Panicking, she saw that the very same prints were behind her, leading right up. It took her a moment to realise that they were produced by the soles of her own shoes. She groaned with relief.

"Why Amy, what a surprise to see you here." The pink hedgehog jumped, then glanced up, confused, for the voice had come from above her. She saw who had spoken and relaxed. The pigeon was non-Mobian. It was of the unremarkable common city variety that you might see perching on any statue or monument that you could care to name. By its bedraggled appearance, it looked as if it had been dragged through a hedge strimmer backwards. Given the bird in question, that was more than likely.

"Eloquent!" she gasped, twirling on the balls of her feet. "I haven't seen you for ages and ages!" The pigeon had helped her in the time of Perfect Chaos. He was the most streetwise and possibly most intelligent bird of his kind, although being a pigeon, that was not quite a compliment. The bird had gained his name through his having more than an ample amount to say for himself.

He alighted upon her shoulder, cooing softly, though with a rasping edge to the sound, suggesting that he had swallowed a child's squeak toy. "Oh, I've been about," he told her airily, with his voice like a drawn-out death rattle that had a hint of cockney to it. "Done a bit of pirating about the Lesser Sea, then I tried my hand at keeping those thuggish parrots down about there. They seem to think that they run the whole of the seven seas, not to mention the whole pirating trade. I showed them that they were wrong. Recently though, I've been trying to get the better of the gulls about here. They're really cocky blighters. I mean, they're even attacking people now."

"I know. They attacked one of my friends a couple of days ago. How are you doing, then?"

"Oh, fine. Et toi?"

"Well ..." She hesitated.

"What's up?" he asked her, curious at once.

Amy's eyes brimmed with tears, trembling in a pitiful way. "It's ... it's just that my friend is trapped in that base over there. They've arrested him you see, though he's done nothing wrong. He ... he wouldn't. I need to get in there somehow and let him out. They wouldn't even listen to my sister. I was with her and some of my friends, but I've ... I've kinda lost them."

The pigeon flapped his wing in front of his face, an obvious imitation of a Mobian's yawn. "Oh, that's easy." He opened his beak wide, yawning again. "I know a way you can get in."

"You do?" Her face lit up with hope, the tears vanishing in an instant, as if they had never been. The pink hedgehog was no amateur in getting her own way.

"Follow me," he commanded, flapping his wings and taking off in the ungamely way that pigeons always do. Amy could not help thinking that he was about as graceful as a duck with one wing. To her, it always looked as if gravity was about to win the battle against pigeons, and it always amazed her when they prevailed. Clenching her hammer tightly, she followed him.

***

The receiver in the ARK bleeped once as Pip was watching Heat defend himself against the savage might of a sandwich. Catching it off guard for a moment, he leapt on top of it, sinking his sharp little teeth into its back. Over and over they rolled, sometimes the chao on top, sometimes the sandwich. A trail of breadcrumbs littered the floor behind them. With one final slash with his tail-claws, the sandwich lay still. Cautiously, treading with one careful paw at a time, he approached it, ready to run if it turned out that it was only faking it. No, he was satisfied; the sandwich was really dead. he raised one half ever so slightly, so that he could see the filling.

"Oh good," he said. "Tuna."

Pip answered the call, putting on her air hostess voice again. "I'm sorry, but nobody very important is here right now. If you would care to leave a message, I would advise you to reconsider. If not, please get off the line because I can't be bothered talking to you any longer. Thank you."

"Of course I know nobody important's there," snapped a voice on the other end. It was Robotnik. "I wanted to know how everything is going up there."

The Mecha bot considered this. "Oh, pretty well thanks. Heat beat it."

There was a momentary silence. "Is the ARK being invaded? What did he beat?"

"The sandwich."

More silence, although it was broken by heavy breathing, as if somebody on the other end was trying to control their temper. "Has anything else happened? Anything important? Even something just relevant would do." There was a note of sarcasm in his voice, that the bat completely missed.

"Not really, no."

"Good. We are about to enter the military base where the three Chaos Emeralds are stored. You can tell Mecha if you wish, and check that there is nothing amiss at the Tario base."

Pip cut the connection. "Sorry," she said aloud. "I had to cut you off there. Don't worry, it was a mercy killing."

"He is very boring, don't you think?" Heat said indistinctly.

The robot looked back at the chao, who had finished the sandwich and was licking his paws. He was keeping one careful eye on the larger of the crumbs, lest it take advantage of his momentary preoccupation and attack him.

"Heat?"

"Mm?" He glanced up.

"Do you think I ought to tell him? About those visitors?"

For a minute, the half-breed chao continued washing himself, considering. "Shadow? No. If they had meant you to tell him they would have said something about it, I am sure."

"Quite right." They turned round to see four figures standing there: the gryffin Krasyetta, the green hedgehog Manic, the golden echidna Tikal, and the sabre tooth tiger Sabre. It was the latter who had spoken.

"Hi again," said Pip, cheerfully. "I did everything you told me to. Right down to the itsy-bitsy details."

"Yes. Thank you. We have some more instructions for you."

The bat folded her arms. "Okay, but first you've got to tell me something." They looked at her expectantly. "Why did you want me to attack that treasure hunter person? There doesn't seem to be any point to it. They're all off stealing the emeralds anyway."

"I know, and that is part of what should be happening as well. The reason is simple really: if you had not gone after her, then Metal Sonic would have done, and he would have killed her. I knew that you would not try to kill her."

She thought about it. "That does make a kind of sense," she admitted. "So." She stood up. "What do you want me to do now?"

***

"Spanner."

Samantha passed him the spanner. The orange fox cub fiddled with it for a few minutes, then sighed, sitting back on his haunches. They were having to work with limited resources. The hedgehog put down the drill that she had switched to, using the spanner back to complete her end of the work. Tails had done nothing. Thinking he wanted it, she offered him the tool, but he shook his head.

"I don't need it." She gave him a quizzical look. "I've run out of parts," he explained. "There's not enough here to work with."

She chewed her bottom lip, thoughtfully. "I'm not sure where we'll get any more," she said. "I'm, er, sort of low on cash at the moment." She fidgeted while she spoke, glancing awkwardly in the other direction.

"That's okay." Tails shrugged. "I haven't got enough to buy anything for the machine either." He looked about him, as if searching for inspiration. As his eyes came to rest on the tarpaulin-covered object across from them, he realised that he had found it. "The Tornado," he said.

"Sorry?"

"The Tornado. I can use its parts, or at least some of them. They'll work well enough. Same basic principle for some of the functions, anyway."

"Oh no, Tails, you mustn't." She shook her head. As did most people who had met the fox, she knew how much his bi-plane meant to him. It was his very first creation, and he loved it as much as anyone can a machine. "Not the Tornado. We'll think of something else, I know we will."

"No." The fox cub was adamant. "You said it yourself: there isn't any way we can afford to buy parts for it. It's the only way we can save Sonic. There's no telling what they might do to him if we leave it any longer. Besides, Amy and Citras are stuck out there, too, and they're not even supposed to be there like Sonic is. What if they get shot or something?" Samantha hesitated; his argument was persuasive. "No, we've got to get there as soon as we can. If the using the Tornado's the only way we can do it, then fine. I'd rather dismantle the Tornado than have any of my friends killed."

"Okay then." Their eyes met. "If you want," Samantha offered. "I could help you put it back together afterwards."

The fox looked down at the spanner. "Let's cross that bridge when we come to it," he said, softly.

***

The gun shot went off, startling the birds out of the trees, ringing around the clearing, the quiet around amplifying it a dozen times over. Amy screamed her loudest, rooted to the spot it terror. Eloquent shot several feet into the air, shedding feathers everywhere in his panic.

Perhaps if Amy had not screamed, the soldier would have failed to spot her. Indeed, he had not been aiming at her. In actual fact, being bored, he had taken a pot-shot at the pigeon. Startled, the G.U.N. soldier blinked glanced around, then, catching sight of the pink hedgehog, stared at her in astonishment.

Amy screamed again, louder this time. This was partly because of her terror, and also partly because she hoped that he would not hurt her if she pretended to be defenceless. Unfortunately, the soldier was not what she would have called a 'nice person'. Recovering from his initial shock, he calmly aimed his weapon at her. She stopped screaming, realising that that defence had not worked very well.

Before he could fire, the human was knocked forward, having just received a heavy blow to the head. Amy gasped, both in relief and fear. What if this person who had rescued her was worse than the guard?

She need not have worried though, for, standing just behind the soldier, was Citras. He had evidently just thrown a rock at the man, rendering the human unconscious.

Running, forward, she gave him a hug. "Thank you," she said, gratefully. "I really thought that mean guard was going to shoot me then."

The android hedgehog grinned at her. "It's okay. I'm just glad that you're safe. I was worried for you when you ran off like that." His voice held the slightest hint of a query, though it did not demand an answer.

"I thought I saw someone I knew," she said, guiltily. "I didn't stop to think. Are the others with you?" She peered behind him.

He shook his head. "No. I ran after you, but they were sent away by one of the soldiers before they could follow."

"Oh." The full implication of this dawned on Amy. "Do you mean we're stuck on this island now? We can't get off it? The others have gone?" She gazed at him anxiously.

"I'm afraid so. They'll be back later, I guess, as soon as they figure out how to. For now though, we're the only ones who are left to rescue Sonic."

Her eyes brimmed with tears. "I want to go home," she whined. "I don't like it here. They might try to kill me again."

Citras gently reminded her of the trump card. "If we don't stick it out, who's going to rescue Sonic? If they shoot at you when you're not even their prisoner, just think what they might be going to do to him. We have to stay and help him."

She sniffed, drying her eyes on the back of her hand. "I suppose you're right," she admitted. She hugged him again. "You're so nice, City. Just like a big brother." The tropically coloured hedgehog flushed red. Nobody had ever suggested anything like that to him before. "Come on," she continued, ignoring his blushing. "Let's go rescue my hero."

***

The two hedgehogs sneaked along the boundary of the fence, looking for a suitable method of entrance. Eloquent flew a little ahead of them, for he knew the way. He glanced back over his wing every so often, making sure that they were not lagging behind.

The jungle growth went right up to the reinforced caged fence. This helped them, in that it shielded them from the view of any guards or security cameras, as well as hindering them, since it was hard to pick a path through at ground level. The sun reflected white and red off the thick, almost plasticy leaves, making them appear as if they were on fire. It was a beautiful effect.

"Not far to go now," the pigeon told them. "Just round the next corner." They toiled patiently onwards for another couple of minutes before halting at the bird's signal. There was a small gap where some animal had ripped a hole in the bottom of the fence. Either nobody had noticed it, or they just had not got around to fixing it up. Whichever it was, it suited their purposes fine. "That's it," Eloquent pointed out, rather stating the obvious.

Amy, joyful at the prospect of rescuing Sonic, threw herself down on the floor at once, about to crawl through.

"Stop!" She glanced up at the pigeon, brushing her hair back with one hand, while giving him a questioning look. "You'll have to take off those bangles, Amy," he explained. "They've got metal detectors hidden all over the place for the first few yards, and even something harmless like them would set them off." There was a squawking some way off. He glanced about him. "I do believe it's those dang gulls again. I guess I'll go and teach them another lesson or two. Be seeing you again sometime."

"Okay." She kneeled up, slid the golden bangle down one arm, over her glove, then proceeded on to her other arm.

Citras glanced through the fence uneasily, knowing what that piece of information meant. He would not be able to go through by that entrance, for he would most certainly set the alarms off, if something so small as a bracelet could do it. Shifting his weight to one foot, he watched as the young hedgehog crawled underneath the fence, coming up safely on the other side.

"Come on, City," she said. "It's your turn now."

He lowered his eyes. "I can't come," he said, softly.

She stared at him for a moment, then realised what he meant. "Oh, of course!" She hesitated, realising the full implication of this. If Citras could not go with her, she would have to go alone to save her hero from his fate. Still, if it would help Sonic, she would just have to be brave. "Will you be okay on your own?" she asked him, kindly.

The other grinned. "I think I just might. How about you though? You're going to be the one doing the dangerous part. I won't think badly of you if you want to wait for the others."

Amy tried to stand a little taller. "I'll ... I'll be okay. Will you wait for me here?"

Citras nodded. "Sure thing. I'll be right here. If you need help and you're near enough for me to hear you, just give me a yell. I'll come and help, alarms or no alarms."

"Thanks. See ya later."

"See you."

She walked away from him, stopping and turning back every half dozen paces to check that he was still there. Each time, he gave her a reassuring wave. Confidence boosted, she rounded a wall and disappeared out of sight. The tropical hedgehog sighed, wishing he could do more, sliding down into a sitting position by the fence.

It did not take Amy too long to find an entrance into the complex, and even less to enter. Strangely enough, it appeared that the security on the doors had already been breached. Maybe they had just forgotten to lock them properly, she thought to herself.

She walked down the gleaming passages nervously, expecting at any moment to be accosted by another one of the soldiers. One hand rested on the hammer as she went along, ready to whip it out at a moment's notice.

There were no convenient signs or arrows up around the base. Why should there be, after all? The people who worked there would be expected to know their own base well enough to make their way round it. There were, however, labels on the door of each room, giving their function.

Amy spent about five minutes running frantically along the corridors, searching for a likely looking door. Eventually she found one labelled 'Cell Block'. Gratefully, she pushed the door open, stepping into the detention area that the island had gained its name from. There were no G.U.N. operatives in there either. She had not really expected them to be in there, for there is only so much you can do in a prison. It calmed her fears of Sonic being horribly tortured though.

Happy at the thought of seeing her hero again, she hurried along, past the empty cells, until she reached one that contained a familiar blue hedgehog.

"Sonic!" she squealed loudly.

Sonic sat bolt upright, surprised out of his gloomy contemplations. Blinking at her as if he did not believe what he saw, he said dazedly: "How long have you been a prison guard, Amy?"

The young pink hedgehog pouted indignantly. "I'm not a prison guard, silly!" She batted her long eyelashes at him. "I've broken in here to rescue you. Aren't you pleased to see me?"

Considering that Amy was the one who had the means to release him, Sonic thought it unwise to say "No". "Are the others with you?" he asked instead.

"No. I came all by myself. A little birdie told me how to get in. Tails and my sis got sent away by the guards, but they didn't see me because I wasn't with them. I was some way away, though I could still see what was happening. Of course, I wanted to rescue you, so I went the other way. I met that pigeon who helped me before." Sonic had vague memories of a bird with more to say than his beak would allow at one time. "That was near the dock, and he told me how to get in. This mean guard person jumped me before I could get my hammer out. I bet he'd have killed me and everything, y'know. Luckily though, Citras turned up out of nowhere and saved me." Sonic made a mental note to berate the other hedgehog next time he saw him. "Then I-"

Amy could have kept going for much longer, but at that moment Sonic, who had stood up and come over to the bars, held up one hand, stemming the flow of words. "Cut the chat," he said shortly. "You can tell me everything later on, after we've escaped."

She moved towards the lock on the door. Halfway there though, she hesitated. Sonic gave an impatient snort. "What's wrong now? Hurry up and let me out of this thing!"

Amy spoke slowly. "If I do ... will you marry me?"

The blue hedgehog thought of dismissing it with a 'What do you think?', before he realised that Amy might interpret that as a 'Yes'. "Absolutely nothing doing. No way. Totally, and with the utmost sincerity, an unquestionable no." Glowering slightly, he folded his arms. Well, the kid had to be told.

"Dang!" exclaimed Amy. "That was a definite negative, right? You're not going to change your mind?"

"No."

She looked crestfallen. "I was sure I'd got you there. After I'd broken in to help you, too. Still," the pink hedgehog added, brightening up. "You're my hero anyway, so I'm going to rescue you whatever."

Pulling out her hammer, she swung it expertly round, giving the lock the mightiest blow that she could manage. There was a reverberating clang, and parts of it flew everywhere, forcing both of them to duck down hastily.

"It might have been easier to use a keycard," Sonic said, weakly. Tentatively lifting one foot, he aimed a kick at the barred door. It swung open easily, not even creaking. "Thanks," he managed. "C'mon then, let's juice."

He hastened down the block towards the main door, Amy skipping excitedly after him, her eyes wide with admiration for her hero.

***

Rouge raced along the corridor, dodging under the steel girders. Inside, the base was a lot more 'space agey' than it first appeared. She ground to a halt at the top of a steel walkway, folding her arms, waiting for the signal. They had chosen for her the perhaps harder, certainly the least direct, method of entry. In actual fact, she had not seen the point of it. Maybe they thought it was more stylish for villains to take the hard route? Well, she could not exactly credit the brains of some jerk who had taken plastic surgery. He looked like plastic surgery gone wrong, at any rate.

"I wonder if he sued?" she mused aloud, looking bored.

She had entered through the classic route: the ventilation system. What risks people always put themselves at for the sake of a little extra fresh air, she thought. Following that, she had proceeded through the attic-like catwalks that were in the upper, mostly unused section of the base.

Minutes passed. The bat began to wonder if they had given her faulty equipment, or had forgotten about her entirely. Just as this thought was crossing her mind, the multi way radio-link smoothly played Shadow's voice. Gone were the days of static-filled lines, at least for those who could afford them.

"I'm in position doctor. Tell me when."

A brief pause as Robotnik received the message, then it was his voice on the line. He sounded slightly annoyed, as if he was outraged that anybody would dare to get in the way of his plans. "There's some G.U.N. troops who are more than agitated. Something must have happened to alert them, though I can't think what." His voice grew brisk. "There's no more time to waste. Set the timer for fifteen minutes, Shadow."

Rouge cut across. "Five minutes should be plenty. We need to get this job done as quickly as possible." She was certainly going to prove her worth as an expert treasure hunter before the day was out.

The human sounded slightly taken aback. "Are you sure, Rouge?"

"Of course I'm sure. Now get ready, because here I go."

She leapt off the platform, onto the wider floor below. It was coloured purple, presumably to give the place a more cheerful atmosphere. It had not worked. The low barriers on either side of her were still the cold grey metal of before, as were all other parts of the construction that she could see.

Before her was a divided path. She chose right, and kept on jogging, although carefully. There was a chance that she could meet a soldier or a robot on that level. Rouge did not carry conventional weapons, although she was more than able to take care of herself. She had once trained in kickboxing, something that she now excelled at. On the whole though, she preferred using her head rather than straight forward fighting.

According to the information that Shadow had provided, the three Chaos Emeralds were kept away in a vault somewhere on that floor. It was her job to find it, get the emeralds, and get out, all within the time limit of five minutes. This was most certainly a challenge to anybody's abilities, although she was feeling quite confident in herself.

Whipping out the rough diagram that the black hedgehog had drawn her, she briefly consulted it. It appeared that just about all of the routes passed the vault at some point. Therefore, the easiest thing to do would be to keep running down the corridors until she reached it. It would be very hard to miss something as big as the vault was supposed to be.

Rouge allowed her mind to wander as she jogged along. Since the passages were mostly on the lengthy side, she would be well warned of any people who may wish apprehend her. Besides, they would be a lot more suprised to see her than she would be to see them. That would give her time to ram her advantage home.

Not too surprisingly, her thoughts turned to Shadow. 'The mysterious one', she thought, grinning to herself. There was much about him that she did not know, and was determined to find out. It was her job, after all. Ah, but that was not something she would be telling anyone, at least not at that present time. He was the reason that she was risking her life even more, for she had one stop to make before the vault: the records room.

***

The very same hedgehog was, at that moment, stepping up to the appointed spot. It was there that he would lay the explosives. The small pack alone had enough power to blow up the entire island; complex, jungle, people and all. Good. That was what he wanted, a small part of his revenge, no, Maria's revenge, to be complete. It would show them that he was not fooling around, that he meant business. Soon, when they had gathered the other Chaos Emeralds, he would be able to give his former friend her full measure of revenge. No, that was wrong. Not former friend. She had always been his friend and always would be. It made no difference whether she was alive or dead.

He carefully attached the pack to the wall. The pack was semi-magnetic, meaning that it would stick itself to the wall without any help. It had been produced by Robotnik himself, proved by the signature stamp in one corner. Shadow set the timer for five minutes, then turned, running away down the corridor. It would be impossible to override the programming once it had been set, Robotnik had explained, so it did not matter if somebody discovered it before the reading was at zero.

Bored of standard travel, he took out the yellow emerald that he had brought with him, activating it in an instant. There was no point in sticking around inside the base any longer, leastways, as long as that treasure hunter managed to complete her job.

***

The white bat hurried out of the records room. She did not look in the slightest bit guilty; that was a sure fire way to be spotted doing something that she was not supposed to. Something like she had just been doing then. It had been worryingly easy to get the folder that she wanted. Rouge had been highly suspicious at first, though she had been forced to just take it. It was either that or abandon it, something that she was not prepared to do. She would not, after all, get a second chance, what with the island being blown up.

When she had gone into the room she had found it completely empty of people. She wondered where they must have all gone to: had Robotnik or Shadow accidentally set of some kind of alarm that had alerted them all? That by itself seemed more like a chance of good fortune than anything else, so she had proceeded on into the room. A red folder lying on the desk had caught her eye. She had flipped it over, reading its neatly printed title.

Project: Shadow.

It had to be more than a coincidence, it just had to be. Nobody could have accidentally left the file that she had been looking for on the desk, then conveniently vacated the room.

Somebody must know what she was up to. That did not worry her quite as much as it should have done, for she knew it could not be either Robotnik or Shadow himself, as they were both elsewhere in the building. Besides, Robotnik was not really interested in Shadow, only his usage. The black hedgehog would not, presumably, need to look up information on himself. Nobody else would cause her any trouble on the issue, so far as she knew.

She would just have to thank her lucky stars and get on with finding the vault.

***

"Citras is waiting for us," Amy panted. It was hard not to when you were trying to keep up with Sonic. "He's out by the way I got in. he couldn't come in case he set off the alarms. You know, being an android and all?" There were plenty of times when the blue hedgehog did indeed forget this fact, for it was definitely not obvious to the eye. Far from it.

Sonic shrugged. "Okay. You lead." They went through the empty corridors of the base, the blue hedgehog forced to keep at Amy's pace. It could not be helped if she was going to lead. Having been along that path before, it was easy for Amy to get them out in the quickest of times, so he could not really complain. It did worry him that they met nobody though. He began having a train of paranoid thoughts, worrying that they were all laying an ambush for him, that this had just been a trick to put him at his ease. Of course, he knew in his heart that was just plain ludicrous, and they would be doing nothing of the sort. It did not stop him worrying though.

He was glad when they were out in the open air. It gave him a sense of freedom and security. After all, there were always places to run to in the great outdoors. He would not be recaptured so easily once outside.

Sonic only began to worry again when they discovered that Citras was not waiting for them by the hole in the fence. "But he said he'd be here!" Amy wailed.

He shrugged, trying to act casually, hiding the fact that he was also concerned about the android's whereabouts. "I shouldn't get too het up about it. He probably had to hide from some troops or something, and had to move on a bit. I bet we'll bump into him if we keep going."

She sniffled a little. "You sure?"

"Positive."

"Okay." She cheered up, for she knew that Sonic could never be wrong. "Which way shall we go?"

He hesitated, considering. "Which way are the docks?" he asked.

The pink hedgehog pointed. "That way."

"That's the way we'll go then. Who knows, maybe Tails and your sis might have come back for us. We'll be able to get off the island really quickly if they have. We can pick Citras up en route, too." It sounded a little too improbable for his liking; there were so many things that could go wrong, or not even happen. Still, at least it seemed to satisfy Amy.

They started off through the undergrowth, Amy skipping along, Sonic struggling to remember to slow himself down so that she could keep up with him. They entered yet another clearing. The pink hedgehog turned her head to say something to her hero. Moments later, all thoughts of discussion were forgotten.

Sonic had stopped in his tracks, staring at a creature that stood on the tree stump ahead of them. It was the black hedgehog that he had met just before his capture by the G.U.N. troops. Shadow had his back to them, appearing not to have noticed them. He looked as though he was waiting for something. Sonic, however, could not help attracting his attention by letting out an exclamation. "Hey, that's-" he began.

Shadow spun round at his words, his eyes widening in surprise when he saw who it was, although he quickly masked it. Like Sonic, he did not address the other directly. "That blue hedgehog again, of all places," he cut across, looking distinctly annoyed.

"Of all places? It's your fault that I'm here, anyway. If I hadn't been mistaken for you, those soldiers would never have captured me. You'd better give me some answers now that I've found you, faker."

"Faker? I think you're the fake hedgehog around here. You're comparing yourself to me?" He brought one hand down dismissively. "Ha, you're not even good enough to be my fa-"

This time, it was Sonic who interrupted. "I'll make you eat those words!" he yelled, furiously, starting towards him.

Shadow rolled his eyes and turned to go. Sonic was ready for this. "You can't get away this time!" he hollered after him, breaking into a run. Over his shoulder, he called instructions to the pink hedgehog. "Amy, go to the docks and wait for me there." His words were whipped away in his slipstream. He was not sure if she even caught them. Whether she had or not, he did not give her a chance to argue with him as he chased after his adversary.

***

The white bat hastened down the corridor. According to her stopwatch, she had already wasted two precious minutes. All of a sudden, five minutes did not seem such a long time. Clutching the folder tightly to her chest as she went, she scanned the corridors for any sign of an attack. It was strange that she had not met anybody. She supposed she should be preparing for an ambush of some sort, since she did not believe in coincidences, or runs of good luck so good as the one she was getting.

A faint whisper behind her, not of a voice, but of movement. She glanced over her shoulder, not expecting to see anything. If she was being shadowed, the person or creature following her would not be so stupid as to let her see them. There was nobody there. Nodding calmly to herself, she continued. As long as she was right with her predictions, she was safe.

Another half minute passed, and still she had not found the vault. She had also heard nothing more of the creature following her. Perhaps it had given up.

No sooner had this thought entered her head than something rammed itself hard into her back. She yelled aloud, tumbling head over heels down the corridor. If she had not ducked into a roll, she might have come off worse. As it was, her back felt merely bruised, no sting of a cut anywhere. Springing back up, she balanced on the balls of her feet, looking about for her attacker. It must have been something large, considering the weight it had got behind the blow.

Nothing. There was nothing there. Without warning, something struck her again, in the front this time. Her body jerked as it was flung back into a wall. She narrowed her eyes. Battered she may be, but she had not lost her ability to think and calculate.

The swish of moving air came once more to her pricked ears. She flung herself sideways, watching with interest at the huge dent that appeared in the wall where her head had been seconds before. Well, that explained it: the creature must be invisible, probably a G.U.N. robot with chameleon circuits.

There was nothing that she could do to show its outline, no objects or substances that she could throw over it. The only other option that she could see was to run, hoping that she would find a place that would lend her some sanctuary against the creature.

This she did, her footfalls ringing loud in the silence of the empty corridor. Behind her, there was an angry buzz, presumably the robot giving chase. She kept running in a straight line as it was quicker. It would not matter so much, as the robot had not shown any signs of weaponry yet, just its ramming attack. Just when she thought that her lungs were about to give out, she saw a welcome sight ahead of her. A large steel door stood at the end of the corridor, turning it into a cul-de-sac. Looking at the dial where its handle should be, she decided that it could be nothing else but the vault.

Whipping out the decoder Robotnik had given her, she clamped it onto the dial. For a moment nothing happened. She glanced back over her shoulder, trying to gauge where the invisible robot was. The lock began to whirr, then made a 'ping' sound, the door swinging open. Gratefully, she grabbed at the edge, pulled it open, and leapt inside. The door clicked shut behind her.

Seconds later, there was a loud clang; a bulge appearing in the door. The robot had rammed it at full speed. She waited breathlessly, wanting to see whether or not the door would hold. It stayed firmly shut despite the dent in it, and she sighed with relief, turning to look for the Chaos Emeralds. Yes, they were there all right: the red one, the purple one, and the light blue one. She moved towards them, picking them up admiringly.

"You're nice gems, aren't you?" she asked them. "Too good for that stupid doctor, huh? Shame really."

There was a snarl from the other side of the door, followed by a click. The sound of footsteps tramped away into the distance: the robot leaving. She froze, then rushed to the door, shoving at it, trying to get it to open. It was no good: the door had been locked from the outside. Swiftly, the bat searched for an inside mechanism that might reverse the process. It was fruitless. She supposed that the vault had never been meant to be opened from the inside anyway. It would be like putting a handle on the inside of a cupboard.

Desperately, she went back to the emeralds, picking them up as if to comfort herself. It was then that she noticed that something was missing: the folder. She must have dropped it when she was attacked. A sob welled up in her throat but she contained it, taking a deep breath.

Rouge looked down at her watch. A minute and a half to go.

***

There was a rush of wind in the trees as the air was squalled into a near river. The tropical hedgehog lifted his head in surprise, wondering what could have caused it. He had been forced to abandon his position when a patrol had come past, instead hiding in the jungle to await his friends. Whatever it was, he decided that he had to cross the open patch before him sometime soon, and it was better sooner than later. He had just stepped into view when he saw them.

Citras stopped, staring at the two figures running towards him. He shook his head, as if to clear it. One, the blue one, was Sonic, his friend. With him though, was, well, he thought there was ... No, the black hedgehog was really there, racing against his friend. Instead of going to Sonic's aid, the android stayed at the side of the track, melting into the shadows of the undergrowth. As the two passed, the black hedgehog glanced at the bushes, sensing his presence. Citras had a fleeting glimpse of a face turning as surprised as his own, then they were gone, the sound of pounding feet still echoing through the trees.

He stood there for a few moments, lost in thought, before a harsh voice brought him to his senses. Humans were there, stamping past him, totally lacking in any quality of stealth. Citras was not an impulsive creature, and so did not risk calling out, which would alert the humans to his presence. They were dressed in army commando fatigues, all with the letters G.U.N. stamped onto the back. Their camouflaged uniform seemed unnecessary with all the noise they were making using their heavy-soled brown leather boots.

A yell told him that he had been spotted. Loud these soldiers may be, but they were certainly not short sighted. Deciding that it was best to declare his peace before it could be questioned, he stepped forward, palms outspread to show that he carried no weapons.

"It's a hedgehog!" exclaimed one soldier loudly, pointing at Citras.

"What of it?" Citras asked, cautiously.

The human at the head of the patrol barked his response. "All hedgehogs in the immediate vicinity are to be brought back to base. Our prisoner has just escaped, and he is known to be dangerous."

The hedgehog shook his head desperately. He did not want to be arrested by these military thugs. Android he may be, but immune to pain he was not. Even that would not have bothered him normally: he had to get to Sonic; to warn him. "You've got the wrong hedgehog," he explained, distractedly. "I'm Citras." He could not get the image of the black hedgehog out of his mind.

"Are you resisting arrest? I warn you, we are not afraid to use force."

He could wait no longer. "No!" Citras turned and fled, the red eyes burning into his skull, though they were by now a long distance away. Sonic, he had to warn Sonic. He could not let any humans playing at soldiers hinder him in his task.

The energy blast sent him spinning off course, falling spread-eagled at an unnatural angle on the ground. His head pounded, and the light seemed to be dimming around him. Why was it so dark? he wondered, his thought process slowing down. What had happened to him? Why did it have to be now of all times, when he needed to warn his friend, to tell him what he knew? "Kaiser ..." he gasped, then his world faded about him and he sank into an all-enveloping darkness.

The last words that he heard were dim, as if they came from across a crowded room. "Fool! Look what you've done now! You've killed him! And see: it wasn't even the right hedgehog."

***

Sonic grinned to himself as he leapt over the other hedgehog's head. He had not enjoyed himself so much for a long time. Nobody before had come so close to matching his speed. This hedgehog was actually equalling it. The one time Sonic managed to get a good look at his shoes, he saw that they were not actually resting on the ground. They had hover-jets in them, keeping him a few inches of the jungle floor. Perhaps that was part of the other's speed, he thought. 

Shadow veered round him, in the lead once more, although only for a moment before they were neck and neck again. The blue hedgehog had the feeling that the other was enjoying it too, though he did not smile. Then again, he was not a very smiley person.

The red-eyed hedgehog glanced at him. "I would get off the island, if I were you. It is going to blow up in a few minutes." He was not sure why he was bothering to warn Sonic. Maybe it was a reward for being such a challenge to him.

The blue hedgehog's eyes widened a little, and he slowed down. Shadow, on the other hand, raced away into the depths of the jungle, only halting when he was well away. He supposed it was time to be getting back to Robotnik, then away from the doomed Prison Island.

As he was about to do so, a voice issued from his radio-link. He stared at it for a moment - he had forgotten that he had had it switched on. It was the treasure hunter's voice. Shadow listened, focusing on what she had to say. She spoke rapidly, though he was still able to hear her.

"This is Rouge. I've got a small problem. I can't believe I'm trapped inside this trapped safe with the Chaos Emeralds. I guess I won't be able to call myself a treasure hunter anymore," she finished, sighing dejectedly. Shadow found himself thinking that that would be the least of her worries.

A sudden vivid image of Maria flashed across his eyes. She was watching him and although she was smiling, there was sorrow in her eyes. He gritted his teeth, shaking his head. "Is she a trouble maker!" he muttered. Holding the emerald above his head as if it were some weapon, he cried: "Chaos Control!" Moments later, the scene was empty, save for the trees and the foliage about the clearing.

***

Robotnik sat in his Eggwalker at the docks, glancing down at his watch in irritation. What was taking Shadow and Rouge so long? The whole island was going to blow up at any second, and they were late. If they did not turn up very soon, he would have to abandon them there. Without using the black hedgehog's Chaos Control, though, he might not have enough time to get away. Worse still, he would not be able to power up the Eclipse Cannon.

As he was making up his mind to leave them to their fates, giving up on all plans of re-world domination, there was a crackle behind him. He jumped the machine round, ready to fire upon any enemies that dared to sneak up on him.

It was not enemies, only Shadow and Rouge. The white bat looked dizzy and a little unwell. He decided that it must be the Chaos Control that they had just used. It must take a little getting used to, that was all. He was pleased to see that she was carrying the three Chaos Emeralds though.

"What took you so long?" he demanded.

Before either of them could reply, a shrill voice interrupted them. "Oh Sonic, I thought I'd never see you again!" Amy, for that was who it was, gave Shadow a huge hug, squeezing the breath out of him. Too stunned to retaliate, he just stood rigid for a moment. "I'm so glad you made it," the pink hedgehog babbled on. "I got really worried when you ran off like that, you know." He shook himself, pulling back out of Amy's embrace, backing away from her, giving her a suspicious look. She stared at him for a moment. "You're not Sonic!" she gasped. "Who are you?"

He folded his arms. "I think I am the one who should be asking that question."

Confused, she looked around at the rest of the company, eyes widening as she saw a very familiar face. "Dr. Robotnik?" She screamed at the top of her voice, causing all three to clamp their hands over their ears.

The human grinned nastily at her. "Ah Amy, your timing is impeccable." He glanced at the other two. "You leave her to me. I'll take care of her." He pulled his goggles down over his eyes.

"You're welcome," said the black hedgehog, quietly, still a little shell-shocked. Rouge just watched the proceedings, a bemused smile upon her face.

Amy spun round on her heel, running towards the water's edge. She had the feeling that her hammer was not going to be much use against a heavily armoured walker. Robotnik followed at a leisurely pace. The pink hedgehog had no where to run to.

***

Samantha sat behind Tails, watching the sparkling ocean literally flying past below. The two Mobians were riding upon Tails's finally completed walker. It was using its jets to keep itself suspended in mid-air at a safe distance from the water. Of course, the fox had not failed to waterproof it, so it would still function underwater. It would still slow them down though, wasting time in which anything could be happening to their friends back on the island. The opaline hedgehog attempted to lessen the tense, expectant atmosphere through conversation.

"So, what do you think you're going to call her?"

Tails shook his head against the buffeting wind that the speed of the hovering machine was creating. "Sorry?"

"This walker. Aren't you going to name it?" He shrugged. The loss of his bi-plane and the capture of Sonic were still weighing heavy upon his heart. "How about something to do with the word Tornado?" she suggested. "Considering at least part of it is the Tornado. You know, like ... Storm, or Tempest, or ..."

"Cyclone?" suggested Tails, warming to the idea.

She nodded, then realised that he could not actually see her. "That's a good one. You can paint the name on when we get back home if you want."

"Okay," he said, brightening up. He flattened himself down over the controls. The island was looming up ahead of them at a terrific speed, and the air resistance was really beginning to hurt. Without Tails in front of her, Sam had a much clearer view of what was ahead of them. They were so near now that she could even see figures standing on the docks. She leaned forward slightly. Surely that was Amy standing there at the edge? It looked as if she was trying to escape from something. Narrowing her eyes, she saw a grey machine menacing her sister. She had missed it at first because it blended in with the tarmaced backdrop.

"Tails," she began, urgently.

He raised his head, taking in the scene ahead of them in an instant. "That's Robotnik," he said, angrily. "I'm sure of it. Well, I'm going to teach him a lesson he won't forget in a hurry for picking on Amy."

On the docks, the pink hedgehog gulped, turning to face the evil scientist. "If you come a step closer, you'll regret it," she told him, meeting only laughter.

"Now I doubt that," he sneered.

There was a soft clump of a sound as the newly named Cyclone dropped from the sky, hitting the ground neatly between the two. Amy clasped her hands in front of her mouth, grinning delightedly.

"Boy, am I glad to see you guys."

"Stay back Amy," Tails warned her.

Robotnik glowered. Taking on a small unarmed hedgehog was one thing, while taking on a fully armed and fully operational walker was another entirely.

"I hate to break this up, guys," drawled Rouge. "Only it seems that we've got about half a minute before Prison Island is blown to smithereens."

"Blown up?" repeated Samantha, looking concerned. "What about Sonic?"

The human looked surprised. "Sonic's here too?" He smirked. "Well, it looks like he'll die anyway, so it doesn't matter too much that I missed him on this occasion. Come on Rouge, Shadow. Let's go."

The black hedgehog, as if he had been waiting for his cue, held up the Chaos Emerald. "Chaos Control!" he called. The multicoloured spheres of light erupted from the emerald, encompassing all three. The pink hedgehog and her two rescuers had to shield their eyes from the brilliant glow. When they took their hands away again, the hedgehog, bat and human had vanished.

"What can we do?" asked Tails, looking worried. "How can we rescue Sonic and escape in less than thirty seconds?"

"But you don't have to rescue me," said a voice that they knew all too well. "I'm right here." They all spun round. The blue hedgehog stood there, grinning at them. "And I think we'd better juice guys, 'cause this place is going to be a whole lot less pleasant to live in than it already is in-"

"We know, Sonic," the fox interrupted him. "Jump on quickly you two, unless you want to be roasted alive." They did not need telling twice. Sonic leapt up, pulling Amy after him.

Tails started up the jets, flicking the machine round and stamping the accelerator almost into the floor. They shot off. Amy, who was at the back, twisted round in her seat to see the huge eruption of flame from the centre of the island. She nudged Sonic hard in the ribs. The other two hedgehogs turned, watching the billowing fireball in silence, willing it not to catch them. The fox did not dare to look round in case he lost his concentration. If he could only get the thrust to work, then there was no chance of them dying.

The cloud of fire and smoke was still moving rapidly towards them, seeming to grow in size and speed. The hedgehogs ducked down, looking back fearfully. For a moment, they felt the heat from the explosion, then the thrust finally kicked in, shooting them clear of the blast. The very back of the Cyclone had been burnt black, the huge temperature creating small bubbles all over it.

They watched the distant fires with a sense of detachment. The main explosion had set off other smaller ones. All that was visible from where they were was flames and smoke. They were not even sure if there was anything left of Prison Island.

It was then that Samantha asked the innocent yet haunting question about the one thing, or rather person, that had slipped the blue hedgehog's mind. "Sonic, what happened to Citras?"

Slowly, he turned to face her, his eyes wide with horror at what he had just done. "I ... I don't know," he whispered, hoarsely. "I think ... I think he was back ..." He could not finish the sentence, looking away from them so that they would not see the tears that dripped from his tightly shut eyes. On the back of his lids a single word played in front of him.

Murderer.


	5. Future and Past

_________________________________  
Chapter 7: Future and Past   
~The ends and beginnings~   
_______________________________________ 

The black hedgehog raced down the corridor, his feet skimming an inch above the floor. This was it now: the moment he would prove himself and finally fulfil his promise to Maria. After all the hurt and confusion, he felt strangely calm, collected. He had been angry before, although it had been anger without any proper focus. He had not understood, still did not understand everything, only that he was not at peace with himself. Now he had 'cooled off', as that blue hedgehog would have put it, he was ready to complete his task.

To start with, he would have to destroy the main generator. It would stop the ARK from moving, and it would also stop something else from happening. If what he thought was there escaped ... Well, he would just have to get there before it did, and beat it fair and square. He just hoped that none of the others were trying to do anything with it. They, unlike him, did not know how to shut it down, and would end up releasing it rather than destroying it.

It even had to be kept in a special room, different from that of the rest of the ARK, in the same way that dangerous maniacs were kept in padded cells. The floor was not metal in there, but stone, a crazy-paving of tiles, an oddement in the gleaming steel of the space station. Given that the creatue could absorb energy from metal, though, even bonding with it if the need arose, this had been a necessary precaution. He doubted they had trusted it even then.

Shadow was nearly there now. He could not hear any voices yet, so he relaxed a little. Good, they had not tried to do anything with it. It was going to be all right.

Suddenly, an ear-piercing scream reverberated around the area. "No," he hissed between his teeth, as he heard a vicious snarl follow it. They had released it. "The fools!"

He burst into the chamber. Although he had not been there since his return, the room had remained as he remembered it. The floor with its tiles, and the central mosaic of the creature that the room contatined; the decorated walls and ceiling that made it look as though you had stepped back in time. It was Greek, almost; certainly that had been an inspiration for the architects. Despite its grandeur, though, he had never liked it. Neither had Maria. It was as if the evil contained there had spread out to the four walls that housed it.

Even as his memories flooded back, his eyes took in what had happened. The opaline hedgehog who had seen hanging around with Sonic was there, crouching over the blue hedgehog. Sonic himself was lying unconscious on the floor, bleeding from a vicious gash to his head.

Standing over them, snarling deep within its throat, was a massive lizard creature: the It of which Shadow thought. Mainly brown in colour, though with a dark grey underbelly, its appearence made a formidable sight. The creature was most certainly not a living animal, judging by the machine parts that covered its head, body, and limbs. For eyes it had strange, drill like parts that stuck out of the side of its head. In the centre of its forehead were a huge set of bolts, connected together by some thick green wiring. On its body there were a series of peculiar circular objects that looked like vents, or portholes even. All in all, it was one of the ugliest creatures ever to be seen by a sane Mobian.

As it advanced on the two hedgehogs, it opened its large mouth, giving another terrifying roar, flexing its muscular limbs, as if waking from a deep sleep. 'Which it has,' thought Shadow. 'One which it should never have come out of.'

If he did not do something, and do it quickly, Sonic and that other hedgehog were going to die. It seemed a perfect opening to his newly remembered vow of saving lives.

"Hey, Biolizard," he called, at the top of his lungs. "Over here." It swung its great head round, snarling at the sight of him. "That's right; it's me. Well, are you going to come and get me, or do I have to go and smash your life-support first?"

It snarled again, a note of worry creeping into its voice this time, and charged at him. Well, even if his memories were fake, like Rouge said, at least they came in handy for something. Shadow smiled, confidently. Now it knew that he knew its weakness, it would be anxious. In his experience, anxiety just made people more careless than they would have been in the first place.

Now, it was time for action.

To the side, Sonic raised his head, blinking at the scene before him. The opaline hedgehog had wiped away the blood from his eyes as best she could without hurting him. Luckily for Sonic, the blow the Biolizard had struck him was mostly superficial. "What's going on?" he demanded, blearily.

Samantha glanced down at him in surprise, then back at the fight. "At least you weren't hurt too badly. Oh, and don't worry about that Biolizard: Shadow's got it all under control."

"Shadow's helping us?" Sonic groaned, slipping back into a dazed sleep. "That settles it. I really am still dreaming."

***

Rouge bounded from one rock to another, her movements made slow and graceful by the lack of gravity. She had grabbed one of the space suits on the way out, doubting that the protective bubble of energy around the ARK would save her if she went out too far.

Some feet away, Knuckles was also making a path, using the stepping stones provided. The rocks were debris from when the space station had shed its disguise that were still floating about it. The echidna needed no space suit, as his talisman sufficed, not only allowing him to breathe in space, but also to move at his normal speed. It seemed that the normal space rules of gravity did not apply where it was concerned.

He glanced down. The rock he was on seemed to be drifting away from the others. Darn, and he could only jump his normal distance, too. He looked about for the closest rock, then gathered his strength. It was quite a distance away, but he still managed the leap. From there it was an easy hop to another rock, then another, and another, until he was back near the space station again. Now, to find that generator.

Well, if he wanted to find it quickly, the best plan was to look for it while on the ARK itself. That way, he would not keep drifting away from it, either. A quick jump got him onto the surface of the space station.

Looking about, he tried to find something that looked even vaguely relevant to his purpose. Nothing obvious or sticking out. Well, that made sense. You would not want one of your generators knocked off by a stray meteorite. So, it would have to be something flat, something set into the station's surface. Something, in fact, like what he was standing on.

"Rouge!" he called, then remembered that she would not be able to hear him. Maybe he should have put on a spacesuit after all - at least they would have been able to talk via comlink then. He had not, though, so he was forced to wave until she noticed him and came floating over.

She pointed down at the generator, as if to say: "Is that it?" He nodded. She made a 'Get on with it then' gesture. Knuckles drew back his fist, then smashed it down as hard as he could. It went right into the machinery; he had to pull hard to release it again. When he did so, he noticed that it was bleeding, and his glove was torn. Still, at least they had done what they set out to do.

Together, they made their way to the nearest airlock, relieved at finishing their end of the job.

***

The Biolizard hit the place where Shadow had been a moment ago, whipping its ugly head round to see where the black hedgehog had gone. Unwittingly using the same attack that Sonic had done before on the EggGolem, Shadow kicked it hard in the face. It gave a cry of fury, trying to bite him. Too late: the hedgehog had gone again. Whatever it did, however much it tried, Shadow was always too fast for it. It longed for an easier target.

Almost as if in answer to its prayers, two pairs of people burst into the room from different sides. One pair was Robotnik and Tails; the other Amy and Pip. The Biolizard had its back to the two in walkers, so it did not see them. However, it saw the other two, and snarled with pleasure. They did not look so tough as the black hedgehog.

As usual, Amy ignored all other dangers, focusing instead on Sonic. "Oh, Sonic, you're hurt!" she shrieked, rushing across to him. The Biolizard pounced. Only just in time, Pip yanked the pink hedgehog back out of danger. Now, though, they were trapped, the Biolizard blocking them into a corner.

The robot glanced calmly at Amy. "Now, all you have to do is not let go of my hand." The other nodded, gulping. It dove its head down towards them, hoping to crush them into the wall. At the last second Pip leapt, dragging Amy with her. She then proceeded to run up the Biolizard's head, along its back, jumping off at the tail.

Furious not only at being cheated of its victims, but also at the humiliation, it spun round, only to be faced with Shadow again.

In the corner, Sonic was just standing up as the four joined them. Samantha smiled at Pip. "Thank you for saving my little sister."

The bat shrugged. "Don't mention it. Ever again, preferably."

"Sonic, we knocked out the generator," Tails told him, eager to please his hero. "We blew it up with missiles and everything. Oh," he added, seeing the cut. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just tried to spindash the generator, that's all. Nobody told me that the thing was alive and was going to try and hit me back."

"You mean that's the generator?" Robotnik looked intrigued.

"Sure is. I doubt it will be for long, though, the way Shadow's going at it."

"Should we help?"

"Yes," said a voice that did not belong to any of the six. "You can help us. Down here," it added, helpfully.

The looked down. There was a small drop of about three feet to a ledge below. Sitting there were the three chao: Riot, Heat, and Saudin. "We think we know how to stop it," continued Heat. "Or at least, Riot and I do. Saudin's still recovering. Where's Knuckles? We need him."

"Still shutting off the generator, I expect. Why?"

"Because the generators are important, but not so important as the Chaos Emeralds. We need to get those out, so that the ARK will lose most of its power. The only problem is, with everything going haywire, the emeralds are welded in there. We need something that can cut them out. You know how diamonds are supposedly the hardest surface, and you can cut through things like glass with them? We think, although we're not sure, that the shards of the Master Emerald will be able to cut them out of the machine."

They stared at the chao for a moment. "Tch, where is that echidna when you need him?" muttered Sonic. He paused. "You know, according to the law of coincidences, he should have turned up when I said that."

Knuckles's voice spoke next to his ear. "Give me a chance to get across the room first then, why don't you?" He glanced back at the battling hedgehog and Biolizard. "It's not easy, either, with that thing on the rampage. Where did it come from?"

"It's the main generator. We don't have time to go into detail on that, though, so let's get going. We've got to use pieces of your Master Emerald to cut out the Chaos Emeralds from the Eclipse Cannon. You have still got them, haven't you?" he asked, anxiously.

The echidna grinned. "Don't worry, I don't often lose things three times in a row. Okay, show me what I need to cut out, and I'll try my best."

"Over here," said Heat, bounding along the floor until he reached the control bank. "They're in those bumps where the metal has welded over. And I'd hurry if I were you. We don't have long until impact."

"Fine." He handed out the shards to the others, only hesitating slightly when it came to Rouge and Robotnik, and they set to work. The metal cut smoothly, with astounding ease. In minutes, the Chaos Emeralds were free, set in a little pile on the floor. Knuckles hastily collected the shards back in.

Meanwhile, on the raised part above, Shadow had finally succeeded in knocking the Biolizard into a sprawled position on its back. In the few precious seconds he had before it got up, he launched into a spindash, smashing the fragile centrepiece of the creature's stomach. It screamed in agony, lashing out at Shadow. Its life-source had been broken; it did not very long to live. This time, as the hedgehog was recovering from his finishing move, he did not have time to dodge the blow. He fell on the floor next to it, scrabbling to get up.

Hearing the death throes of the Biolizard, the others peered over the edge of the ledge, Sonic starting to climb back up. A moment later, though, they all flung themselves back down, as the explosion happened, spreading a thick, billowing, acrid smoke over the area. At almost the same instant, they thought they heard a cry of Chaos Control, in a voice that was not the black hedgehog's.

"Shadow!" yelled Rouge, anxiously, about to clamber up.

Knuckles pulled her back down. "No! You don't know whether or not it's safe yet."

"Poor Shadow," whispered Amy, sniffling. "He died trying to save us all." Her big sister hugged her comfortingly.

A warning beep brought them running back to the control bank. They would have to grieve for Shadow later: they did not know yet if they were out of danger. Sonic glanced at the screen. "That looks bad," he said flatly.

"It is bad," said Riot. "That Biolizard's not dead yet. It must have been it we heard doing Chaos Control. Now it's gone and merged with the space station, and from the looks of it, it's going to keep us on a collision course with Mobius."

"So you mean that shutting off the generators did no good at all?" groaned the blue hedgehog. "Aw, man."

"We've still got the Chaos Emeralds, though," Pip pointed out. "Can't we do something with them that will stop it?"

"Hey, I could go Super, and try to stop it that way," suggested Sonic, eyes glittering. "I bet that thing ain't so tough that it can stand up to the might of Super Sonic."

"Fine," said a cool voice. "But if you go Super, then I go Super as well." Shadow stood on the platform above them, cradling the stunned Saudin in his hands.

They stared at him in disbelief. "You're still alive?" exclaimed Rouge. "After that?"

He shrugged. "I appear to be. Where are the emeralds?"

"Here," said Heat, pointing with one chao paw. "Will you both be able to become Super at the same time? I've never heard of more than one person doing it at any one time before."

"It can be done, although the power will be split between the two, and they will not be as strong as they would have been when using them on their own. However, two is better strategy-wise. One to distract, the other to attack. Are you ready for this, Sonic?"

It was the first time he had called him by name. The blue hedgehog grinned. "As ready as I'll ever be, Shads. Let's go for it."

The others tossed the emeralds across to them. They clinked as they touched together, orbiting about their heads, transforming into spiralling balls of light that circled the two hedgehogs. The two closed their eyes as the power throbbed through them, becoming a part of their very bodies.

None of the others could watch them, the light was so bright, and were forced to turn their heads away, as even with their eyes shut it still blazed behind their eyelids.

Sonic's normally blue colouring became its familiar Super-charged fluorescent yellow, his spikes standing on end. As he opened his eyes, the irises had changed from calm green to a burning red. Shadow's new colouring was slightly subtler than Sonic's: a creamy, almost golden white, still with his red stripes. His eyes having already been crimson, did not change.

They radiated a glowing power.

They glanced across at each other, almost smiling. "There's your miracle, Rouge," Shadow called across to the white bat. She smiled back. He turned to the other Super form. "Now, Sonic."

Together, the two held up their hands. The words "Chaos Control!" echoed about the room.

"Good luck," called Amy, though she was already too late for them to hear her.

***

The two hedgehogs appeared in space, a few feet apart. They both stared at the transformation of the ARK. Even though they had known what to expect, it still stunned them. The Biolizard had indeed merged with the space station, which had become a strange combination of the two. It had the Biolizard's head though, so at least it would be easier to make out what they were up against.

It spotted them, and gave a great growling laugh. Apart from when it had said 'Chaos Control', it was the first time that they had heard it speak. "Still trying to stop me, little creatures?" it mocked them. "You will not get far. I am now more powerful than ever before."

"It's lying," hissed Shadow. "It's dying. Even now its life is ebbing away. It won't die soon enough to save the planet though, not without a little assistance."

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go get him!"

The Biolizard laughed again. "That's right, come and meet your doom, little hedgehog."

"Sonic, wait!"

The yellow hedgehog skidded to a halt in mid-air. "What?" he demanded, peevishly. "There's no point in hanging around. Look, he's laughing at us again."

"Do you care what he thinks? Come on Sonic, you know better than that. We need a strategy if we're going to beat him in time." Reluctantly, the other nodded. "Right. Take it in turns to distract him, then go for his underbelly again. That's his weak spot."

"That's it?"

"I said we needed a strategy, not a whole step by step routine. We don't have time for that. Now come on. I'll play as bait first."

Sonic nodded, watching as the cream hedgehog swept off towards the Biolizard. Shadow did not have to go far, though, as it was almost on top of them, it was moving so quickly. He just hoped that they would have enough time; they were dangerously close to the atmosphere as it was.

Right, the creature seemed preoccupied enough. It was his turn for action. Diving down, underneath the creature, he looked about for the point Shadow had been talking about. There it was; only partially healed over after the other hedgehog's attack. He homed in on it at top speed, giving it a glancing blow. However, it seemed to do the trick. The Biolizard lashed about as if it agony, Sonic only just avoiding its thrashing limbs.

He flew backwards into space, away from the creature, noticing just how hot it was becoming. Shadow joined him a moment later. Sonic noticed how tired he was looking. He was about to ask him if he was all right, but the cream hedgehog waved him on.

"Go on, it's your turn now. Hurry up; we don't have much time."

The yellow hedgehog nodded, swooping towards the Biolizard. "Hey, ugly, want me to ram you again?"

Snarling, it snapped its jaws at him. Unfortunately, this time it was wiser to their plan. As Shadow shot underneath it, and Sonic goaded it on, it lashed its tail round as hard as it could, cannoning the white hedgehog away from it. Normally, Sonic was sure that Shadow would be able to have avoided the tail. He was beginning to suspect that the explosion had hurt him more than he was letting on.

He hurried over to the other hedgehog, who was looking dazed, but alive. When he saw Sonic, though, his eyes narrowed. "What do you think you're doing? Forget about me for now, go and finish off that Biolizard. There's hardly any time left."

Looking behind him, Sonic saw that he was right. They were almost at the atmosphere of the planet. The power of the Chaos Emeralds protected him from most of the heat, though he could still feel it burning into his back.

So, he only had one chance left. "Better make it a good one, then," he whispered to himself.

Without warning, he shot towards the Biolizard, picking up speed as he went along. The creature looked at him, surprised for a moment, then grinned, opening its jaws. However, this was just what Sonic wanted. He shot into its mouth, into the interior of its body. Complex mechanisms were everywhere; machinery that he did not even pretend to understand. Luckily, he did not need to.

The Biolizard screamed, sending the yellow hedgehog flying from its mouth. Explosions were coming from its body, ripping it apart from the inside out. In an attempt to save itself, it uncoupled from the ARK: its final mistake. One moment there was the ARK, its old shape once more, the Biolizard spinning around in its final contortions next to it. The next, the ARK was unchanged, though at its side there was only an expanding fireball where the Biolizard had been.

The two hedgehogs laughed aloud, giving each other high fives. "That was amazing," the white hedgehog told Sonic, smiling a genuine smile of goodwill.

"Come on, I couldn't have done it without you, Shads. You were great too. Hey, I bet the others will be celebrating like crazy when we get back there. We'll be the heroic two who saved the planet from destruction."

They both grinned, each thinking how much they had underestimated the other. Sonic flung his arm around Shadow's back. "Let's go back, eh?"

"Sure." He added, teasingly: "Dude."

The yellow hedgehog laughed. "Okay then. On the count of three. Chaos Control!" They shouted the last two words together, still laughing. After a moment or two, their laughter died away. "Chaos ... Control?" Sonic repeated, but more hesitantly.

Sonic and Shadow exchanged looks. "They're ... they're not working," Sonic murmured, shaking his head. "Look at them: they're fading. Dying." He looked back up to the space station far above them, then down at the planet below. "Like we're going to be soon." They were falling now, down towards Mobius, where they would be burnt alive on entry. The yellow hedgehog felt hopeless. Here they were, having beaten their seemingly all-powerful adversary, saving the planet from destruction, and they were going to die. He ground his teeth together, narrowing his eyes. "At least we'll die like heroes, I guess."

The white Chaos-charged hedgehog looked into space. If Sonic had been looking closely enough, he might have seen the single teardrop fall from his eye. Shadow had realised for the very first time that he loved being alive. At one time he had lived only to bring vengeance upon those who had slain Maria, but now ... "I don't want to go," he whispered, his words lost instantly in the vacuum of space. Shadow squeezed his eyes shut, trying to block out the pain in his head. He wanted to experience life, in a way that he had never had a chance to. He wanted, most of all to be loved, to have friends. He wanted Maria. He wanted Rouge. Rouge? Where had that thought come from? Now that he had had it though, it seemed strangely ... right. Even so, he doubted that she liked him, not after that argument.

He sighed to himself. Did anyone want him? He doubted it. Nobody would ever miss him, not since Maria had died. Sonic, on the other hand, was cared for, and would be sorely missed. His eyes snapped open. He had made his final decision: there was no going back.

"Sonic?"

The other looked at him, putting on a brave smile. "Yeah?"

"I think that ... if we use the Chaos Emeralds separately, one after the other, then there'll be enough power. It's only if we both try to use them at once that there's a problem." Seeing the light of hope kindling in the other's eye, he knew that he had made the right choice.

"You think so? Okay then, you go first. I'll hold fort here."

Shadow almost snapped his response. "No!" Calming himself, he added: "I mean, no, you go first. I don't want that pink hedgehog trying to hug me again by mistake. If you go first then she can get it over and done with and out of her system."

Any other reason, and Sonic might have been suspicious. Shadow had chosen well. "Okay, I'll go first," he told him, grinning. Then, a vague sense of unpinned doubt seeping into his mind, he added: "You will be able to follow me, won't you?"

The white hedgehog nodded encouragingly. "Certainly, you go along and I'll come after."

Sonic nodded once, then outstretched his hands. "Chaos control!" he yelled, then vanished.

Shadow watched him go. Without the Emeralds, he was swiftly reverting back to his normal black colouring. "Farewell Sonic," he murmured. Drifting towards the ozone layer, the heat was already pricking his body, a horrible burning sensation creeping through his very soul. He grimaced, though he did not cry out. He had promised himself that he would not.

No one cared for him any more. Nobody had ever really cared for him but Maria. Now he was going to join her. "You were right, Sonic. I am going to die like a hero." In the inky blackness in front of him, he thought he could see her smiling at him, holding out her hand. His own hand shook as he raised it, reaching out to touch hers. "I did what you wanted me to," he whispered. "Now we'll be together again, for always and always. I don't belong here. I never have." There was a brief spark, then nothing more.

***

Rouge looked at Sonic. "Where's Shadow?"

Sonic glanced behind him. "Oh, he's coming, he just got me to Chaos Control first, in case he was mugged by Amy." Rouge stared pointedly at the Chaos Emeralds in his hands. Slowly, Sonic followed her gaze. "Oh drat."

As one, they all rushed to the window, trying to catch a glimpse of the white Super hedgehog. There was no sign of him anywhere, only Mobius, the twinkling stars and the inky blackness of space.

Tears rolled uncontrolled down Sonic's face as he rested his head on the cool glass, banging his fists against it repeatedly until he lost motivation. "So stupid," he snapped through his sobs. "How could I be so stupid? If he got me to take all the emeralds then there's no way he can Chaos Control."

Samantha reached out, clasping both of his fists between her own hands, looking deep into his eyes. "Sonic, I know that I knew Shadow probably the least well out of all of us, but I still don't think he'd want you to grieve him. He did what he did so that he would be remembered, though not in that way."

"He ... he said that he wanted to make everyone happy," Amy supplied, stammering.

Her sister gratefully acknowledged her. "Exactly. There was nothing that you could have done to make things turn out any differently, even if you'd known. His mind was made up, he was just trying to make it easier on himself and you. Life is a gift, and he gave his for yours. Accept his gift, Sonic. He's accomplished what he set out to do."

As if trapped in slow motion, he nodded.

There was silence for a while in the room. Not having wanted to be the one to break it, thinking that he would sound unconcerned, Knuckles spoke.

"I'm sorry guys, but I've really got to get back to the Floating Island. If I don't, it's going to fall out of the sky, probably killing a lot of people at the same time."

Sonic smiled slightly, looking only half-awake. "Don't worry about it, Knux. We understand."

The echidna moved to go, but Rouge stopped him, laying a hand upon his shoulder. Knuckles winced, though luckily the bat could not see his expression. He turned, folding his arms, the picture of sulky resignation.

"What?" he demanded.

"I just wanted to know something," she said, peaceably. He inclined his head ever so slightly, his consent to her asking. "You know the shards of the Master Emerald?" He repeated his minute nod. One of the others, he was not sure who, sniggered. Knuckles glowered, his face flushing a deep red. Rouge pretended not to notice. "How do they detect the other pieces?"

"What do you mean?" Knuckles asked, brusquely.

"What I said. Where's the tracking device in them? Or do they just do it by themselves?" He stared, not comprehending, and she rolled her eyes. "How do the shards find the other shards? Are they alive somehow?"

The echidna turned away, looking thoughtful. It was a while before he replied, as if he was trying to think of a way to phrase his answer. "There is a legend among the echidnas," he pronounced slowly. "A series of legends, actually. About a Guardian - one of my ancestors - who was one of the greatest echidnas who ever lived. Her father was murdered as he tried to save her, when she was about as old as we are now. After that, she had a long series of adventures, far too many to tell now, and probably more than I even know of. Anyway, to cut a long story short, she came back to the Island. Something happened, and she was combined with the Master Emerald."

Rouge shrugged. "Interesting folklore, but what has that got to do with the Master Emerald being a-" She stopped in mid sentence.

Knuckles nodded. "It is my belief that that story is true, and that she is trapped in there to this very day. This isn't the first time that I have heard somebody suggesting that the Master Emerald is alive. Perhaps it is."

"What was her name?"

"Echo."

"Oh." Sensing that he was feeling awkward, she turned to go. She had hoped that she had at last got someone who would talk to her, but obviously not. Maybe she would go back to those turtles after all; at least they were happy to see her. However, someone blocked her path.

"Not so fast," said Pip, arms folded. "You can't leave without telling me exactly what kind of creature you are, because it's been bugging me the whole time. You are definitely not a bat, and I should know."

Sonic joined in. "Yeah, I'd been wondering that, too." The others nodded, agreeing, even those who had not particularly noticed.

"I know," said Heat, quietly. "It would be very hard for anything even vaguely cat-like not to recognise one on sight."

The 'bat' sighed. "Okay, okay. I suppose it's not going to be such a drastic thing after all of this." Like a conjuror producing a rabbit out of a hat, she whipped out a long rodent tail. The others stared. "I'm a mouse, and a spy. Once though, I crossed this bunch of drug-dealers in my line of work. They weren't too happy about it, neither. I had to change my appearance, and fast. I'd earned a fair amount of money, so I decided to go one step further than just a new set of clothes. I got these." She flexed her wings. "The very latest in bio-technology. I need the trousers, too, to hide me tail. And do you know, only one person has ever recognised me as who I used to be."

"Told you," said Heat, still quietly.

Knuckles shook his head. "That's ... pretty impressive."

"I'll say," agreed Sonic.

Hearing this, Amy quickly asked: "Say, do you know if they do them for hedgehogs as well?"

Rouge laughed. She was enjoying the attention. These people weren't so bad after all. "I'm sure they do, honey, though they'll cost you a bomb, or at least a kidney."

"Hey, big people," called Heat. "Before you all start going, look over here."

They looked to where he was pointed with one paw. There sat Saudin, blinking as if coming out of a deep sleep. At least, they thought he was Saudin, for he had changed from his previous appearance, if he was.

He was still a hedgehog chao, with the red stripes down his back, but his main colour had changed to an ebony white, his eye-colour reversed into black. His little spikes were sticking upwards, and he had a small red star-cross on his chest. A large pair of golden wings were folded behind his back, the feathers crumpled like those of a fledgling. Altogether, he looked very much like Super Shadow, give or take a few differences. The biggest change in the eyes of the chao, though, was that he no longer had a spiked life-force sphere, but a blue halo.

He looked up at them all, wide-eyed, then smiled shyly. "Hello," he said.

"He was Shadow's chao," Amy said, watching him in astonishment. "Shadow's love and kindness must have changed him from a dark chao to an angel chao."

"Yeuch," said Heat, loudly.

Samantha bent over the chao. "Hello, little fella. I've never seen that happen before, you know. Not a change, and especially not as late on as that." She looked straight at Sonic. "I think he's going to need a new master, now, don't you?"

"I guess I'll look after him for now, then." The blue hedgehog attempted to look nonchalant and uninterested.

"Sorry guys, but I'm really going to have to say goodbye for now," Knuckles told them, agitatedly. "I really can't afford to leave my island alone for a moment longer."

They all joined in on the farewells, even Robotnik, as the echidna activated the space transporter and vanished. "I guess I ought to be leaving, too," Rouge mumbled, turning to go.

"Great, I'll go with you," said Pip, brightly.

"You sure?" She looked surprised.

"Of course. C'mon Heat, let's get going." Having heard most of the mouse's conversations with Shadow, she could only guess how she must be feeling, which was why she thought it was a good idea to go with her. She could at least try to cheer Rouge up a bit. "See you, everyone."

More goodbyes. When they had finished, Sonic turned to Robotnik with a glint in his eye. "Okay, you're going first now, Eggman, just to make sure you don't stay behind and try to mess things up." He glanced down at the Chaos Emeralds. "I don't know that you can now these are broken, but I'm not giving you any chances."

"What do you take me for?" asked the human, hurt.

"A lot of things that I wouldn't say in front of Tails and Amy. Now hurry up and get going." Grumbling, Robotnik left.

Sonic held Saudin close to his chest, and looked around at his friends. "Let's go home," he said.

***

Samantha shook Sonic hard by the shoulder, and he sat up, groaning. "What is it?" he mumbled.

"Come on, you've got to get up. You've got visitors, and then the presentation ceremony's taking place in a couple of hours, you know."

Sonic groaned again, sitting up blearily. "What presentation ceremony?"

The opaline hedgehog grinned down at him. "You're all been given medals to commemorate your bravery at saving the planet. Megabucks is going to be giving them out, too." She looked impressed at this piece of information. Sonic, on the other hand, was too tired to be excited much by anything.

"Who's all?" he asked, trying to display some signs of enthusiasm for the other's benefit.

"Well, you, Knux, and Tails. Knuckles has only just got back. He managed to get to the Floating Island before it went down, though he said it was a kinda close thing."

"What about you? Aren't you getting a medal?"

She blushed a little. "I hardly did anything. Amy did more than I did, and she's not getting a medal either."

"Thank goodness," he muttered, though too quietly for Sam to hear. "Okay, okay, I'm coming." He rolled off the settee that he had been using as an improputue bed, standing up. When they had arrived the previous night, they had been far too tired to make it back to the hotel or, in Knuckles's case, the Floating Island. For this reason, Samantha had generously allowed them to "bunk down" at her place for the night.

"So, who are the visitors?"

She counted on her fingers. "Well, they're a curious bunch, really. There's a gryffin - I think -, a tiger, a hedgehog and an echidna. They say that they know you."

Sonic looked bemused. "If I do, I can't think of who they are. Oh well, I'd better go and see what they want, anyhow."

He hurried through to the next room, where Sam had said the visitors were waiting for him. "Sonic, you forgot your shoes," the opaline hedgehog called after him. He looked down at his feet, then up at the strangers.

"Er, hi," he said, embarrassed. They were indeed the animals named, though he did not know any of them, save for one. "Tikal!"

"Hello, Sonic," she said, smiling at him. "We've just come to congratulate you on your courage. We won't be stopping long."

The blue hedgehog waved a hand, trying to understand the situation. He was still not fully certain that he was awake yet. "Wait, how did you get here? I mean, you live in a totally different time from us."

"These people brought me here, because they needed my help. They are Sabre-" The tiger bowed. "-Krasyetta, that's the gryffin, and this is Manic. Your, er, brother."

"My brother? But Spark's my brother." Sonic sighed. "This is way too early in the morning for me."

"It's two o'clock in the afternoon," Sabre informed him, looking distinctly amused. "Allow me to explain about Manic. He is your brother, it's true, only not in this universe. Don't worry about it for now."

Manic winked at him. "Don't feel pressurised: you can be as worried as you like. Anyway, we just came to explain one thing to you before we go. Since you won, we felt that you deserved to know why Shadow kept having his visions." Sonic tried to remember if he had known that Shadow had been having visions. "We were doing it, or rather Tikal was, so that we could assure the safe course of history. If he hadn't helped you all, and done the things he did, it would all have turned out much, much worse. Believe me, I saw it. Oh, and we hired this person to help us. Some robot bat."

Sonic thought about this for a moment. The last part was something he thought he could grasp. "You mean Pip?"

"That's the one."

Saborian nodded. "I doubt she'd thank you if you let on you knew, though. She doesn't seem to like admitting to any heroics."

"I think we ought to go now," Tikal said, having been watching the blue hedgehog's increasingly perplexed anxiously. "Otherwise we'll end up confusing him too much."

Manic folded his arms. "I can't see why. I mean, we've met this dimension Sonic before, haven't we? How come he doesn't recognise us?"

Sabre rolled his eyes. "Come on Manic, I've explained it to you before." They started walking out of the door. The golden echidna gave Sonic an 'I'm sorry about all this look' and followed them out. The tiger's voice drifted away as they disappeared into the distance. "So you see, it's our past, but his future."

Running on automatic, Sonic went back into the other room. Samantha looked curiously at him. "What did they want?"

He sighed. "I don't know. I really don't. You don't happen to have any coffee about, do you? I don't think I'm going to be able to keep awake through this presentation thing otherwise."

***

It was half past seven in the evening. Sonic, Tails, Samantha and Amy were walking through the park, wrapped up thickly in warm clothes. Saudin, Clove and Riot were with them, playing happily among the leaves that had been cleared to the side of the path. No matter what happened, chao were always just chao, deep down.

The presentation ceremony had gone off reasonably well, Sonic managing to stay awake for the whole event, despite what he had said. Knuckles had arrived for the ceremony, departing immediately after. They guessed that he was eager to go back to his island for a while after leaving it for so long.

The three heroes all had shiny new medals, and, as a surprise bonus, Samantha had been given a grant to help her run her chao garden. The only thing that spoiled it a little was what had happened when Sonic had got his medal. Unable to be restrained any longer, Amy had broken free and had rushed up onto the stage, hugging Sonic in front of the whole crowd. He still was not sure if he had forgiven her yet.

A tall figure came hurrying towards them, also well wrapped up. They stood aside to let them pass. Instead, though, they stopped next to them. "Please," she said, for it was a feminine voice. "Could I speak with Sonic for a moment?"

Sonic stared. "Alice?" She nodded, smiling at him. He glanced back at the others. "Sorry guys, I won't be long."

"It's okay. We'll be over there." Samantha pointed to the swings that had been set up in a corner of the park. They walked away towards them, laughing amongst themselves.

The human sat down on a bench, motioning for Sonic to sit beside her. "So," she said as he seated himself. "You must want to know all about Shadow."

"How do you know anything about Shadow?" he blurted out. "Did you find some information in G.U.N. headquarters before they blew?" She shook her head, smiling, then let her hood drop. He stared at her. "You're that girl. That one who Shadow mentioned, and the one that was ..." He stopped again. "But he said you were killed."

She sighed. "I am not Maria. At least, not the one you take me for. She did die on ARK, although not as long ago as Shadow thought. She was not quite as young, either. He remembered her as a girl, when in actual fact she was 21, to the day. The G.U.N. troops stormed the space station, killing everybody they found. A complete massacre." She looked disgusted. "Only one person who was there at the time was left alive, and that was me. I was 2, I think. Just little still. A soldier took pity on me, and left me where I was. Later on, when my father heard of the news and came to find us, I was the only person left."

"Then ... then you're Maria's daughter?" He struggled to understand.

"Yes." She smiled at him. "I am. I told you that my name is Alice Airam. That is not quite true. I suppose it was a foolish choice, even if I was on the spot. Airam is my name, only back to front, and Alice is my middle name. Maria Alice Kydrey. Daughter to Maria Robotnik, a murdered mother."

"How come Shadow misremembered all that then? I mean, it must have been twenty years ago, right? Did G.U.N. do something to his memory?"

"Ah. You see, Shadow could not remember the true story, because he was never actually there. After the massacre on ARK, my great-grandfather bought one of the Perfect Androids from its creator, one named Kaiser. Kaiser was Shadow, Sonic. Gerald programmed him with false memories in the hope that one day he would be revenged for my mother's death. It drove him mad in the end, you know," she added, sadly.

Sonic was silent. It was a lot to take in. Even the simple things, like the Perfect Androids having been around for over twenty years surprised him. That would make Citras a lot older than he had thought. Well, would have made him, if he was still alive.

"It was me who gave you the fake Chaos Emerald," Maria continued. "It was not made as a fake, actually, but as a training emerald for the Ultimate Lifeform: the Biolizard. From what my father said, that ugly thing always gave my mother the creeps."

The blue hedgehog grinned a little. "I can see why. It's sad though, really. Shadow always thought he was the Ultimate Lifeform."

"And the important thing was, he died still thinking it." She looked rueful. "I tried to speak to him once, you know. He thought I was just a ghost. I decided then that I had no right to try challenging his beliefs. Not when he has done so much for us all."

"I'll never forget him."

She smiled again. "Neither will I. I'll leave you now Sonic. You have a lot to think over. And look; your friends are calling to you. You'd better go and join them."

"Thanks Maria," he told her seriously. "If you ever want to come, you'll be welcome in Knothole."

"It would be a pleasure. Goodbye for now, Sonic the hedgehog."

"G'bye!" He raced across the grass to meet his friends, who were waving to him to hurry up. As he reached them, the orange fox grabbed him by the arm.

"Look," Tails cried, pointing. "Look at all the celebrations."

Sonic smiled slightly, looking up at the night sky. He had not noticed before, he had been so engrossed in his conversation with Maria.

He looked up. If he squinted, he could see the pattern of stars that made up the constellation of the Hedgehog. Fireworks exploded with brilliant multi-coloured sparks around it, lighting up the dark with their beauty. Sonic could not help thinking that the Hedgehog looked like Shadow. His eyes met those of the hedgehog of the heavens.

"The people are happy," he whispered.

The End


	6. Truth and Lie

_________________________________  
Chapter 5: Truth and Lie   
~The testing of the Eclipse Cannon~  
_________________________________ 

Shadow looked in wonder at the little creature that stood before him. Moments before it had been invisible in a large cocoon like shell of shining midnight. Before his very eyes the shell had become translucent, finally fading away altogether to reveal a chao - his chao. Completely black in colour, its head was shaped like a raindrop. It had feet like those of a cartoon rabbit, two paws for hands, and a small pair of fluffy wings upon its back. The only part of the chao that was not black was its eyes, which were red. The hedgehog thought that it was beautiful.

"Hello," he ventured, cautiously.

The little creature watched him levelly. "Hello," it repeated.

He was delighted. "Hello," he said again.

Once more, the chao parroted his words. "Hello."

Excited, he continued his side of the mimicked conversation. "How are you today?" he asked it, politely.

The chao considered this for a while. "How are you teddy?" it suggested, eventually.

"Very well, thank you."

"Very well, funk you."

"Funk you too," he said, quietly.

"Funk," it repeated, giggling happily. It seemed to enjoy using its new word. "Funk you. Funk you very well, how teddy."

"I am called Shadow, not 'teddy'."

"Funk."

Shadow supposed that it must take chao some time to get used to a comprehensible vocabulary. It was the same for all creatures, though Pip had assured him that they learned it faster than most.

He was in one of the many storage rooms aboard ARK, which were, as he had remembered, in complete abundance. They had been back from their excursion to the late Prison Island for about half a day by that time. Dutifully, he had gone straight to check on the egg upon his return, staying with it ever since. Nobody had disturbed him, which pleased him greatly.

"Are you hungry?" he asked it.

"Hungry." Although this was probably more of a coincidence than anything else, the hedgehog took it as an affirmative.

"I will go and get you some food," he told it, patting it gently on the head before leaving the room, remembering to shut the door over behind him, lest it escape. It made a squeaking sound, possibly a sign of gratitude.

Sitting itself down on the floor, the chao yawned loudly, covering its mouth with one paw like hand. It settled down to wait for its master to return. Already its complex brain was picking up little strands of information from all around it, storing them for future use. From its time in the egg it had learned some forms of speech. Now, only a short time after hatching, it was working out how to construct a sentence. If only it had someone to test it on, it thought sadly.

As if in answer to its prayers, the door swung open again. 'Master has come back,' he thought, leaping to his feet. However, it was not his master who entered the room. It was a creature he had never seen before, although he recognised it as a fellow chao. It was male, and in the form of a golden cat.

"Look!" he told it, excitedly. "I am male too, and I am black."

The golden chao gave him a strange look. "What are you doing in here?" he asked of him.

Conversation! He was practically in ecstasy, gabbling his words in a frenzied effort to say as much as he possibly could. "I am waiting for food. My master is bringing me food. I am hungry. I can talk, too. Listen!"

"Very nice," the other said, looking bored, walking over to one wall, scratching his tail claws down it to produce an ear splitting screech of sound. If the black chao had been more experienced in the world, he may have found it funny to watch what looked like a cat scratching, only in reverse.

"Oh!" he exclaimed. "That was loud."

"Well, duh."

The newly hatched chao looked interested. "What is a 'duh'?"

"Not telling."

A cunning light came into his red eyes. "I'll tell you what a 'funk' is if you tell me what a 'duh' is."

The other stared at him for a moment. "You'll tell me what a ... what did you say?"

"A funk."

"Oh. A funk. Well ..." He considered, though only briefly. "It's a coward, or someone who is afraid. Unless you mean funky of course, in which case it means a, ah, swinging type of music."

"Not my kind of funk."

"Well, what does your kind of funk mean, then?"

However, the little chao was not to be distracted so easily. "You've got to tell me what your word means first."

Heat rolled his eyes. "Duh is a slang way of saying 'Well, obviously', or another variation on that theme. Go on then. What do you think 'funk' means?"

The chao cleared his throat importantly. "It means you're pleased that someone has done something for you."

The golden cat chao sighed theatrically. "You mean thank you, you prat," he told him.

"What's a prat?"

"You." His cattish ears pricked suddenly. "Someone's coming."

"Master!" The black chao rushed to the door as it was pushed open, hugging the hedgehog's ankle with all his might. Shadow looked surprised, thought that was not to say that he was displeased. I'm so funk that you're back," he continued, squeakily.

The Mobian gave his cautious, awkward, half smile. Maybe he was afraid that if he tried giving a full one, someone would realise his happiness and try to take it away from him once more. "I have brought you some food," he told his pet. "It is fruit," he added. Taking a dangerous plunge of pretensive knowledge, he finished with: "It grows on trees." At least, he hoped it did. He had never really seen many trees or plants within his life.

"Funk you," said the black chao, seriously.

"I will have to give you a name," Shadow mused, aloud. "I suppose I had better go and ask what would be a suitable choice. Do not worry, I will be back soon."

Before he could leave the room though, the chao had a suggestion of his own to make. "Am I called Prat?"

The dark hedgehog blinked at him. "Prat?" he repeated.

"This other chao said that I was Prat."

"What other chao?"

He turned round to point him out to his master. Strangely, the golden chao had vanished into thin air. "He's gone," he explained.

"Oh." Shadow did not know about 'invisible friends', so he did not disbelieve him in the slightest. "Well, stay here until I return." He exited the room.

Slipping out from his hiding place behind a pile of boxes, Heat rejoined the other chao. "Do you have a master and a name?" he was asked.

"I am called Heat." He paused. "And my master is called Pip."

"Those are nice names," said the chao, brightly.

Heat shrugged, as if he did not care for compliments, or at least, not from the black chao. "Thank you," he said.

"Do you think I will get a nice name?"

"No."

"Oh."The chao looked hopefully at the fruit. "Is this nice?"

"It is okay, I suppose. I prefer tuna myself." He detracted from this statement somewhat by rolling the nearest fruit over to himself, taking a great big bite out of it. The other watched him for a moment, then joined in, stuffing pawfuls of grapes into his mouth, chewing away happily. The two of them ate in silence for about five minutes. They became highly dismayed as they realised that all the fruit had been consumed.

"Too bad," said Heat, not looking nearly so distressed as the other chao. He strolled over to the door, pushing it open with one paw, glancing back at the other. "Well?" he said. "Are you coming?"

The black chao looked virtuous. "My master told me to wait here until he comes back. I can't go anywhere, otherwise he might get upset. He might think I'm am a bad chao."

"So? You are supposed to be a 'bad chao', as you put it. You are a dark chao, right? Anyway, he will just think you are ... full of spirit. Nobody likes an unlively chao," he added, cunningly. "They are just dull and boring."

"What is a dark chao?"

"You are. Or at least, you are one dark chao. You can tell because your life-force sphere is all spiky. Your opposite is an angel chao. They have a little halo over their heads in place of their spheres. Then there are the normals. They come in all different types."

The little chao asked, very politely: "What kind of chao are you?"

"A half-breed. I am part angel chao, part dark chao. There is no other chao on the whole of Mobius who is like me." The dark chao could not work out whether he sounded sad or happy about this. Footsteps sounded in the hall outside. Heat sighed. "Dang. Just tell him you want more some food or something. That will get rid of him." He disappeared once more behind the crates.

The dark chao watched the door expectantly.

***

Sonic sat on the pier of Sapphire City, swinging his legs in a slow rhythmic momentum, watching the gentle waves wash in and out. He was not really concentrating on the sea however, nor the grey expanse of dockland that was about him; he was too preoccupied by his thoughts. The hedgehog was only vaguely aware of the people walking past him, some hard at work, some just strolling, some laughing and playing. They paid him no attention whatsoever. He was glad, for he did not want to be disturbed. People would only make him feel worse.

He held his head in one hand; his skull ached with all the crying he had done the previous day. Sonic did not feel sick though, only hollow inside.

Murderer. He had killed one of his best friends. Indirectly and by accident maybe, but he had still left them to die. What kind of person was he? Citras had come to rescue him, and how did he repay him? By forgetting all about him, leaving him to be blown up with the island. He did not deserve to have any friends if that was the standard of care he used in looking after them.

Then there was another thing. It was not just what he thought of himself, but what other people thought of him too. Tails, Amy, Samantha ... he could not imagine what would be going through their heads at that moment. They must hate him. Also, there were all the people in Knothole, none of which had been told as yet of the current situation. It all seemed to be piling up, one thing after another. He did not want to think about it, though he knew that he had to face up to what he had done or he would be running the risk of becoming a coward. If he was not one already, that was. Coward, murderer. What was the difference? He was a killer, so did it matter what else he was? It could not possibly make it any worse.

A hand touched down on his shoulder. It was such a soft, calm touch, as well as being totally unexpected, that he took fright, leaping to his feet in an instant. He had forgotten that G.U.N. would still be looking for him, despite their main base of operations being destroyed. Now though, he did not know if he could be bothered trying to escape.

"Sonic?" He relaxed, though only marginally. It was Samantha, and he was not sure what she would be like towards him after the events of the previous day. "We're all really worried about you." Worried about him? After what had happened?

"You are?" It was more of a question than anything else. The way he said it, he did not need to put the 'why?' into the sentence.

"Yes." She pushed him back down into a sitting position, flopping down next to him herself. "I don't want you to go blaming yourself about this, Sonic."

"Why not? It was my fault that he died."

"Was it heck," she said. "You hadn't even seen him on the island, so how were you supposed to remember that he was there? Why, you don't even know for a fact that he did die."

'Of course he died,' thought Sonic. "How could he have got off the island then?" he challenged her.

"Maybe he was captured by some G.U.N. troops and taken away somewhere. Anyway, if you're going to go blaming yourself, that means you'd have to blame Amy as well. After all, she was the only person who actually saw him on the island at that time. None of the rest of us really knew where he was. Do you really think that it was Amy's fault?" She was glowering at him now, her arms folded and her eyes flashing angrily.

Thinking about it relating to someone else, Sonic could not see how it could possibly be the pink hedgehog's fault. Citras had disappeared, and there was nothing she could do about it without getting herself killed. "No," he said, quietly.

The opaline hedgehog dropped her angry expression instantly. He could not help thinking that it had just been a pretence to get him to admit his innocence. "There you go then," she said, sweetly. "There's no way that it could be your fault."

"But I forgot about him-"

"I think I ought to remind you that you're incriminating my little sister again." She gave him a mischievous smile, knowing there was no way Sonic could blame himself without blaming Amy as well. "Now quit moping about and do something useful like coming to help me with the chao."

He could not help but grin. "Okay, okay, I'm coming." Together they walked away from the pier, towards the chao garden. They were just two more people laughing and talking along the docks.

***

"Well, what kind of name did you have in mind?"

Shadow considered this for some time. He had eventually found Pip, who had been surreptitiously playing a computer game on one of the amazingly advanced systems that ARK had to offer. Shadow could not help thinking that their creators would be more than a little annoyed if ever they discovered what use they were now being put to. All the same, it did appear to be an intriguing game.

"I had thought maybe Chaos."

"Nah, that's not original enough. You get light chaos chao, so you'll have people calling their chao Chaos left right and centre." Pip paused as the character on the screen kicked a mutated creature down a flight of stairs. "Ha," she said, to nobody in particular. After another pause, she added: "How about Saudin?"

"What's that mean?"

"Chaos."

He looked confused. "I thought you said-"

"It's okay if you use other languages," she explained. "It makes it original again."

"Ah, okay. What language is it, then?"

The robot said, over-casually: "Lunarian."

"I haven't heard of that one before."

"Not many people have."

He guessed from her evasiveness that it was something that she did not want to talk about. Although he was not quite sure why this would be, he decided not to probe any further. He understood how annoying it was to have people nosing into your business.

"Do you like it then?"

"Sorry?"

"The name. What do you think?"

"Saudin?" He allowed the word to linger for a moment. "Yes, I like it. It will suit him." Unable to resist his curiosity's urging any longer, he finally asked the question. "What is it that you are playing?"

"Samuri Speed: Enguarde," she replied, instantly. "It's the very latest game in the series. It's also the first of the games where you can play as any of the characters, even the villains."

She sounded enthusiastic about it, so he assumed that it must be good. "Does it have a storyline?" he asked, sitting down next to her so that he was at a better angle to watch the screen.

"Uh-huh. There's Nightshade - he's this ninja cat, the main bad guy of the series. Well, anyway, he's found the location of this major weapon of destruction type thing, but he can't work it unless he gets these special power objects." She waved one hand vaguely. "There's a lot more to it than that, but it'd take too long to explain. The characters in it are Samuri Speed, the main hero who sparked all the games off - he's a red hedgehog. Then there's Krystal Kitty, who's a ... well, I think you can guess. Last of the heroes in this game is Harry Hare, who is sort of Samuri's rival, but really a nice person."

"What about the villains?"

"Nightshade, who I already told you about, is one of them. Kyra Kitty makes her first appearance in the game, and she's Krystal's twin sister, a kind of anti-version of her. Last, but not least, there's this guy who's cloned from Samuri. You caught a glimpse of him at the end of the last game, and there was loads of hype about him in between."

"And you're playing as ...?"

"Krys. I usually do." Her eyes lit up suddenly, or rather they glowed more brightly. "Hey, do you want to have a go on multiplayer? It's got a versus battle mode on it."

He did not take too long to consider his answer. "What are the controls?"

She handed him one of the four pads. The controls were simple enough: a joystick to move the character with, and buttons to perform their special attacks. The names given to the attacks seemed rather cartoonish in his opinion, though he forbore to comment.

Pip had exited her 'adventure mode' game, and was setting up the options for the 'versus mode' when a voice spoke from the door. "What are you doing?" Both looked up guiltily, as if they were small children who had been caught stealing sweets from a jar. It was Rouge.

She came on into the room without waiting for invitation. "Is that Enguarde?" she asked. The robot nodded. Rouge seated herself on the floor next to Shadow. "Oh, you're on multiplayer. Can I join too? I'm pretty good at the 'Speed games."

"Okay." Pip finished setting out the options, moving on to character select. "Pick your characters." Rouge instantly selected Kyra. Shadow hesitated for a moment, looking at the icon of the white hedgehog; Speed's clone. Instead though, he picked Samuri Speed himself. After all, he had decided that he despised clones and copies. They reminded him too much of the blue hedgehog. After waiting for the other two to make their selection, Pip chose Krys.

The word 'location' flashed up onto the screen, followed by miniature scenes clipped from the different settings. Since it was Shadow's first game, the robot said that he could have first pick. He chose the level he had seen Pip playing in the 'adventure mode' previously: the creepy looking house.

The counter ticked down from three to zero; the game began.

***

As the two hedgehogs entered the room, they were greeted by an ecstatic cry. "Oh good, you found him!" squealed Amy. Sonic wondered briefly about the young girl's ability to turn every sentence into an exclamation. He dodged the inevitable hug with a practised air, strolling on into the room, leaving a disgruntled Amy behind him.

The chao looked up as he entered, calling out greetings to him in their little squeaky voices - at least, the ones who could talk did. Smiling, he waved to them. Chao were so sweet. They always seemed able to put him in a good mood, no matter what.

Samantha and the sulking Amy followed him in. "Where's Tails?" he asked, feeling a little hurt that the fox had not even come to say 'hello' to him.

"Oh, him." The older of the two sisters grinned. "He's been hard at work ever since we got back. You can't even get into the warehouse without a shovel, the parts are piled up so high."

Yes, that sounded very much like his friend when he got into one of his determined moods. At least he knew he was not being avoided; that was a weight off his mind. "What parts would those be?" he asked, idly.

"Ah ... you don't know, do you?" He glanced sharply at her; an inquiring look. "It's the Tornado. Most of it, at any rate."

His face registered complete and absolute shock. "He's taken it apart? We are talking about the same Tornado, aren't we? The bi-plane?"

"Well, he's not taken it apart exactly. He's rebuilding it into the Cyclone. Sort of like a two-in-one; several functions in one machine."

Sonic smirked. "Next time the Innovations catalogue has a job vacancy I'll be sure to let you know." He paused. "The Cyclone's what he's calling his walker, isn't it?" She nodded. "I'll bet it'll come in handy very soon, when we find out just what Robotnik wants those Chaos Emeralds for."

She shrugged. "Oh, come on Sonic. What's the chances of him coming up with a plan that doesn't involve world domination in some part or other?"

"Rock all."

"Exactly. Don't worry about it, he can never keep his ideas to himself for very long anyway."

"I guess that's tr-" He broke off, having caught sight of an object that was lying a few feet away from them, in the doorway. It had not been there when they entered as they would have seen or at least tripped over it. Curious, he got to his feet, moving across to it. Realising, with perhaps more hindsight than usual, that it might be a trap, he opted for what he considered a cautious approach: prodding it hard with one foot. When nothing exploded or attacked him, he picked it up, carrying it back to the other two, who had been watching him with interest.

"Isn't that a Chaos Emerald?" asked Amy.

He set it down on the floor. To all appearances it was indeed a Chaos Emerald; the green one. "Sure looks like it," he said, although with a little doubt in his voice. "I can't figure out what it's doing here though. Tails has the green emerald, but he wouldn't have left it here, surely." He turned it about in his hands, trying to find some clue on it as to what it was and, more importantly, what it was doing there.

Samantha's voice broke across his thoughts. "Clove, what have you got there?" The blue hedgehog looked up. The small chao was dancing about, waving a scrawled on piece of paper. It had a piece of sticky tape attached to the top of it.

Sonic glanced down at the Chaos Emerald in his hands, then back at the chao. "Hey, give that back here," he exclaimed, indignantly.

The chao grinned wickedly, retreating a couple of steps and blowing a raspberry at him. "Shan't," he said.

There followed a scene that included a short-lived would-be escape from Clove, plus a good deal of confusion as the Mobians tried, and mostly failed, to catch him. Eventually, the paper was secured by a speedy tackle from Sonic, and the three settled down to read it while Clove sulked in a corner. The blue hedgehog read the letter aloud, while the other two craned over his shoulder.

"This is not a real Chaos Emerald, but a fake. It can be charged up to make it explode after a certain length of time has passed. It has the same wavelength and properties, but is less powerful than a real Chaos Emerald. I think you may find that this will come in useful." He turned it over. "There's no signature."

"Do you think it's a trick?" asked Amy, in a hushed voice.

"Well, if it is, I can't see the point of it. I wonder how this thing got made. I mean, I've never heard of a fake Chaos Emerald before. I hope it's easy to work."

They stared at the emerald in silence. "Maybe we're supposed to give it to Robotnik, since he's so keen on collecting them," suggested Samantha. "It could completely wreck whatever he's working on."

"That's a thought." He sprang to his feet. "C'mon then, let's go find Tails and see if he can help us with this thing. He likes all the technical stuff." The two sisters glanced at each other, then hurried to catch up with the blue hedgehog before he got lost completely.

***

The cream coloured cat leapt into the air, spinning like a top, delivering a vicious kick to the almost identical creature below her. On the rebound, she just avoided having her plaited hair severed by the red hedgehog's blade. It cut through the air like a silken knife through melted butter, an effect only spoiled when it lodged itself firmly into the wall. He looked up in time to see the sole of Kyra's boot plant itself firmly in his face. Yelling aloud in pain, he fell back against the wall, slumping to the ground.

"I win again," crowed Rouge, leaning back, her hands behind her head, the very picture of triumph.

"How about another rematch?" suggested Pip. She was already resetting the options for another match, looking rather determined.

Shadow shook his head. "Please, not another one. After five wins, I think we can safely say that Rouge is the champion at this."

"It's six wins actually, spiky."

"Come to think of it, you're probably right," the robot agreed. "That is kinda depressing." Sighing a little, she started to pack the gaming equipment away, while trying not to listen to Rouge telling her how she should be playing if she ever wanted to win a game in her life. Not really interested in Rouge's ego-trip either, Shadow wondered away to look out of the giant window.

__

He stared out of it for what seemed like a long time. A voice broke into his thoughts, and he glanced to the side. Maria was standing there, smiling innocently at him. He supposed he should feel surprised; shocked at her presence. Instead, it just felt right, like a blissful image in a dream.

"Shadow, what do you think it's like on Mobius?"

"The professor said that his life's work was dedicated to all those who lived down there." The girl turned to look at him, her crystal blue eyes glittering with admiration. 'She really does hang on every word I say,' thought Shadow. "He once told me that his existence was for making people happy through the power of science. Maybe they're all backward down there, that's why he needs to do it." He sighed, leaning his head against the cool glass.

His companion looked concerned. "Shadow? Are you okay?"

He shook his head. No-one, not even she, could understand. "Maria, I just don't know anything any more. I often wonder why I was created. What my purpose is for being here. Maybe if I go down there I will find the answers."

"No, Shadow, don't go." She looked frightened now. "Don't leave me here all alone."

His smile was tempered. "Maria ..." he whispered, watching her out of the corner of his saddened eyes.

"Why so melancholy?" He glanced at the white bat, then back at the empty vastness of space outside. He did not answer her question. She waited for a moment for him to respond, then, realising that it was not going to happen, continued regardless. "Saving me before, that was so unexpected. So unlike you, Shads, to come and rescue me. And your ability to use the Chaos Control certainly comes in handy." She waited again. "You know, I think I prefer the macho types to strong silent ones," she added, contemplatively. "Your humangous pauses are just too annoying."

"I didn't come to save you," the hedgehog snapped. "I came back for the Chaos Emeralds. And I am called Shadow, not 'Shads'."

"Yeah, yeah, but then again, that's not the whole story, is it?" She smiled at him the smile of someone who knows they are in the right, even when they are not.

He froze. Did she know about Maria? How? Then he relaxed. The stupid girl was just doing, what was the word? Ah yes, flirting. That. "Do not be stupid. If I had already got the emeralds before then, you would be toasted by now."

Shadow said it a lot more nastily than he intended to. Even so, he felt a prick of surprise when Rouge turned sharply away. Had he actually upset her? He was not given time to dwell on the matter though, as the next moment Robotnik came striding into the room, looking exceedingly cheerful.

"The Eclipse Cannon is ready to go," he told them.

This breakthrough did not have quite the result he had expected. Pip just shrugged, and continued putting the equipment away, with the air of one who has heard similar claims before, and was not impressed by any of them. Shadow, still a little disorientated from his vision and short conversation with Rouge, did not move, but just stared out of the window still. The treasure hunter was the only one to say anything, though she was even less encouraging than the others.

"Are you sure about that? We only have five of the Chaos Emeralds. The one I gave you, the three we took from Prison Island, and the one that Shadow took. I thought we needed seven."

Snapped out of his dazed state, the black hedgehog turned round. He noted that Rouge seemed to have recovered, if she had ever been upset at all - he might just have imagined it. Still, she did not look at him when she spoke.

"She is right," he told Robotnik. "Five will not do. You need six at the very least, and even then it is nowhere near its full power, and takes forever to charge up again after use."

From where she was calmly flicking through the game instructions to try and work out whether or not Rouge was talking through her hat, the robot spoke. "You don't happen to want a Chaos Emerald do you?"

"What do you think?" snarled Robotnik, losing his temper.

"Oh well, okay then. I was just going to suggest that you might want to borrow my Chaos Emerald, that's all."

The human froze. "Your Chaos Emerald?" Pip nodded casually, then a second later was yanked off the ground. "Where is it?" he demanded. "Where?"

The robot bat turned upon him a poker expression. "If you happen to actually like your face the way it is and don't want me to do a decorative design of slash-marks all over it, I'd suggest putting me down." Realising his mistake, he did so, fast enough to make sure that she did not carry out her 'suggestion', but not too quickly in case anyone noticed this. "Thank you," said Pip, with a politeness that was just too elaborate.

She rummaged around in a box for a moment, then produced the dark blue Chaos Emerald. Robotnik held out one hand expectantly. The robot pointedly gave the emerald to Shadow instead.

"This will be enough for a demonstration of the Eclipse Cannon's power," Shadow told them, a dark look flashing across his face. Noticing the two females looking at him strangely (Robotnik was too busy gloating), he tried to sound more casual. "Come on, let's get this show on the road." He walked past Robotnik and out the door, the others running to keep up with him.

***

Screens all across the cities of the planet flickered, their transmissions being overridden by a rogue signal. They changed to display a fat human figure, clad in red, white, yellow and black with a huge bristling moustache sticking out of his nose and small beady black eyes. His voice boomed out from thousands of speakers around the globe.

"Listen to me, citizens of Mobius! Ha ha ha! I am called Dr. Robotnik, the world's greatest scientist, and -ha ha- soon to be ruler of this planet once more! Ha ha-"

"I think you should cut down on the laughing," said a different voice. "Oh, did I say that out loud? I'm so sorry."

Sounding a little irked this time, Robotnik continued. "You are all privileged to witness the remaking of the greatest empire of all time!" He gestured to the side, obviously a signal for something.

Up above, beyond the planet's atmosphere, the covering of the ARK was blown away as the Eclipse Cannon was activated. It had been disguised as space debris to protect it from prying eyes. Now though, this camouflage was no longer needed.

The surface of the ARK looked rather like a face; Robotnik's face in fact, right down to the long jutting out nose. The 'nose' was, however, part of the Eclipse Cannon, the barrel as it were. As the people below stared up in confusion, a blue glow of pulsing energy focused at its tip, and it split apart down the middle. The glow spread out across the segments of the 'nose', then rushed back to the centre, focusing in a beam of light.

The people on the surface of the planet watched breathlessly as it passed overhead towards its target: the moon. Striking the moon's surface, the beam bored into it. Within seconds the beam had vanished, leaving a gaping hole behind it, shards of rock flying away into space, and chaos on the planet below.

***

The large purple cat busied himself around his inconsiderable sized hut, trying to make things as comfortable as possible for his unexpected guest. Froggy was dozing quietly on the corner of the table, absently watched by the guest.

"I'm awful sorry 'bout falling in on you like that," rumbled Big, for the hundredth time. "I really didn't expect anyone to pull on the line. Leastways, nothing bigger'n a fish."

"It's okay," said the visitor, the response now coming automatically. The creature was wrapped up in a warm towel provided by Big, to "Keep from catching a chill". It did not feel in the least bit cold or ill, but it had realised that it was probably best to just agree with everything he said, since he was trying his hardest to be helpful.

He was obviously not used to visitors though. This was, however, one of the cat's better characteristics in the stranger's misty eyes. Unlike most people, or rather unlike any intelligent person, he did not ask questions. No 'Hey, what happened to your body?' or 'Jeez, don't you know they've got a derobocizer now?'. Jerks, the lot of them.

Big looked around for something he could do. Ah, there was an idea. "Would you like some tea?" he asked, politely.

"Do you have anything stronger?"

The cat's brow deepened in thought as he tried to comprehend the question. "Uh, I think I've got some coffee somewhere," he suggested, eventually.

The visitor stared at him for a moment. "Er, never mind. I'll just stick with the tea, thanks."

"Okay." This discrepancy in his normally simple life cleared up, he put the kettle on to boil. As he put the teabags into the mugs, it crossed his mind that it was generally considered polite to ask your guests questions and to make conversation with them. He had better say something, as he did not want to appear an unfriendly host. "Um. Do you like fishing?"

"Never tried it."

"Oh." He sounded disappointed.

"I'm sure it's a very nice sport, though," offered the stranger, kindly.

"Oh, yuh!" agreed the cat enthusiastically. "It's the best sport ever. Do you know how many different kinds of-" Cutting in hastily, the creature reminded him that the kettle had just boiled, breathing a sigh of relief when he turned his attention to it, instead.

Hoping to distract him further from his subject, the creature added, groping for something to say: "You've got a nice frog."

"Thanks. He was the first thing I ever fished, y'know. When I was three and playing with a rod my daddy had made for me, I got a big tug on the line, and I pulled, and out came Froggy, and my daddy, he said I was a, a fishing property-" Here the stranger raised an eyebrow. "-and I've kept Froggy as my good luck frog ever since." Upon finally reaching the end of the sentence, he was forced to lean against the table, gasping for breath.

"That's ... sweet," ventured the other. "But don't forget about the tea." Big looked blank for a moment, then rushed back to the kettle. Suddenly, the stranger cocked their head. "Say, do you hear that?" Without waiting for an answer, the creature ran to the door, flinging it open, gaping in astonishment at the sky.

"What is it?" asked the fishercat, ambling over. Anything happening in the outside world took second priority to things occurring in his own home, so he was not especially interested. "Here's your tea."

The stranger's hand reached automatically for it, their fingers closing around the handle. Their eyes did not leave the night sky, however, and they omitted to utter any thanks. "Look at the moon," hissed the creature. "Look at the moon!"

He did so. "Doesn't look half the moon it usually is," he commented, slurping idly from his tea.

"That's because it isn't! Somebody's gone and blown a huge chunk right out of the moon!"

Big considered this statement for a while in silence. At last, he thought of something to say that would contribute to the discussion. "Well," he said. "They had good weather for it."

***

"Did you see that?" demanded Sally Acorn loudly, waving her arms about to indicate the new unnatural phase of the moon. "Nicole, find out what's going on this instant." She was standing on the roof of one of the huts, so as to get a better view of the situation.

"Strangely enough, yes, I did happen to notice something," Spark remarked dryly from ground level. Spark was Sonic's brother, a lime coloured hedgehog with a black streak running down the front of his face. His left arm was robotic.

"Just when Sonic takes a holiday something like this happens," the squirrel fretted. I knew I shouldn't have let him go."

The hedgehog gave a humourless smile, shinning up the ladder that had been placed at the side of the hut to join her. "If I know Sonic, he'll probably already be involved in it somehow. Who knows, he may even call us."

As if on cue, Nicole bleeped loudly. "Incoming transmission Sally, from one Samantha Rose."

"Who?" said Spark. Sally shrugged, unsure herself, also disappointed that it was not Sonic.

"Put her on." The face of a young opaline hedgehog appeared on the screen.

"You're Princess Sally Acorn, right?" she asked. The squirrel nodded. "Oh good, I was hoping to reach you. I'm Samantha Rose. You've seen what happened, haven't you?" Another nod. "Well, we're pretty sure that Robotnik's done it with these Chaos Emeralds he's been stealing."

"How very unusual of him," said Spark, leaning over so that he too could be seen by the hedgehog. "I'm Spark, Sonic Hedgehog's brother. He wouldn't happen to be there at all, would he?"

"Yes, but he's helping Tails right now," she explained, as Spark winked triumphantly at Sally. "We've only just got him out of jail, but we're working on a plan right now."

"Jail?" repeated Sally, faintly. "What was he doing?"

"Don't worry, it was a mistake. Look, I can't tell you the whole story right now, it would take too long. I just wanted to tell you something while Sonic's busy."

"Oh yes? What?"

She hesitated. "You know Citras?"

"Yes. Don't tell me he got put in jail too."

"Ah, no. Worse than that. He's dead." This registered complete silence. "Robotnik blew up Prison Island when we went to rescue Sonic, and Citras got trapped there. There's nothing we could have done to save him, but Sonic keeps blaming himself for it. That's why I didn't want him here when I told you."

"Poor Citras," whispered Sally. Last time she had seen him he was laughing and joking with Sonic and Tails, going on a holiday. This was a result she could never have predicted.

"He was a good guy," murmured Spark, quietly.

At the bottom of the hut, a pitiful shadow slunk away. It had heard all that it needed to. It reached the edge of the village, looking up at the sky with dry eyes.

"I could have said something," whispered the Irish sheepdog to himself. "I could have saved him." He clenched his fists with new resolve. "Next time I have one of my ... fits ... I'll tell them about it. I won't let them down again."

***

"I told you to aim it at the planet, not the stupid moon!" fumed Robotnik, emphasising his point by banging his fist down heavily on the control panel.

Pip nodded calmly. "I was there. I noticed." He opened his mouth again, twisting it in an effort to overcome his rage and regain the power of speech. "I just thought though, if you're wanting to take control of the planet-"

"Again," Robotnik put in, automatically.

"Again, yes. Well, you wouldn't want a big hole in it, would you? And what if it had had a fault in it somewhere and you'd accidentally blown up the whole planet? You'd have got in an even bigger sulk than you have now."

"Very true," agreed Shadow. "You would not want damaged goods, now would you?"

"I suppose so," the human admitted, moodily.

Rouge walked into the room, laughing quietly to herself. "Well I have to admit it, that did look quite impressive," she told them. "I've just been watching on the vid-screens. Everybody's completely panicking down there." She paused, expectantly. "So, if there's chaos on the whole planet, does this mean that we control it now? I was just wondering, because if we do, there's a large order of gems I'd like to be making."

Robotnik, instead of replying, slammed his fist down on the controls again. "I'd really stop doing that if I were you," said Pip.

The treasure hunter arched an eyebrow at Robotnik. "Did I miss something?"

Shadow shrugged, leaning back against the cool metal of the control bank. "Unfortunately, our threats seem to have fallen on deaf ears. Some of them are even saying that the moon being halved was a coincidence."

"Yes, and whose fault is that?" Robotnik snarled, glowering furiously at Pip.

"I come in peace," the robot said sweetly.

"Aren't you the embarrassing one?" smirked Rouge, rolling her eyes at the human. "Throwing a tantrum like a big kid. I bet you were a real pain for your parents."

Finding someone else to turn his anger on, Robotnik whipped round to face her. "Don't forget your end of the bargain. What about the last Chaos Emerald? We had a bargain, right?" He held out one hand, mockingly. "Well? Come on, I'm waiting for it." She did not respond, but looked at him in a bored fashion. His temper escalated still further. "There does happen to be a Robotsizer still under my command, you know. I think it might need testing after this long without use."

"You have still got one?" asked Pip, sounding surprised.

"Shut up," he snapped. To Rouge: "Well, treasure hunter?"

She yawned with over-stated motions. "I may not have the emerald, but I've got this." She held up a sheet of printed paper.

"Why didn't you show me this before?" he subsided, snatching the sheet from her hand. It appeared to be an article from a small local newspaper. "The Freedom Times," he observed. "The Freedom Fighter's little secret tabloid."

"It's not a tabloid," Pip argued. "It's supposed to be intellectual, and unlike a tabloid it focuses on only the important issues, not what some pop star's doing for their holidays."

"And you'd know would you?" muttered Robotnik.

"Well, I do subscribe to it," she replied, to quietly for him to hear. "With your money of course," she added, as an afterthought. Shadow's mouth twitched into what might have been a grin.

The scientist began to read the article out aloud. "After a week of worry, Knothole's top Freedom Fighters have returned, bearing with them all seven of the Chaos Emeralds. It is unsure what happened to them yet, in-between destroying the monster Damnare-" Here Pip gave a little bow. "-and their reappearance. They are currently resting, and are unavailable for comment. However, it is known that they have distributed the Chaos Emeralds to various people and organisations, such as Megabucks (movie maker, etcetera), in the hope that they will not so easily fall into evil hands again." The robot laughed out loud at this point, and received one of Robotnik's nastiest glares. "It seems though, that Knothole has awarded one to the charge of Miles Prower, for showing outstanding courage and quick thinking."

A delighted grin spread across his moustached face, and he shook with excitement. "This makes things a whole lot easier then. Right. Shadow, Rouge, go and get that Chaos Emerald for me. I've got a call to make." With that he strode imperiously from the room.

Rouge glanced at Shadow, who was looking a little dazed all of a sudden. "Hey, Shadow, did you hear him?"

He glanced up at her, eyes still unfocused for a moment. "Maria?" he said.

The white bat stared at him. "What did you say?"

His eyes refocused and he shook his head. "It doesn't matter. I was just thinking, that was all." He turned abruptly, exiting the chamber.

"He really is weird, isn't he," remarked Rouge aloud.

"Maybe he's just upset about something," suggested Pip, lightly. Rouge gave her a piercing glance, but said nothing. The robot walked away, giving her a wave. "See you later I guess."

The treasure hunter watched her go out the door, counted to ten, then went for her com-link. She was sure the robot had been hinting at something, though. If only she knew what. Still, like Robotnik, she also had a call to make. An important call. A moment of silence as the call was confirmed and accepted, then:

"This is Rouge reporting. Currently I have not been able to confirm whether Shadow is the ultimate life-form or not. I will continue my research into Project Shadow and will have a follow up for you very shortly. Just a reminder - don't forget about my jewels."

She cut the connection, knowing that the message would be instantly picked up and analysed as soon as she had done so. They would probably be irked with her for saying about the jewels, though they couldn't complain: she was doing a pretty good job so far.

As she turned to leave the room, Pip poked her face back round the door, making her jump.

"I think that you ought to keep your voice down in future," she said, companionably. "You never know who might be listening." She retracted her head, leaving a momentarily frozen Rouge behind her.

***

The little black chao rolled about with a child's ball that he had found in one of the crates. It was a light turquoise in colour, dotted with yellow spots. Heat was curled up on the floor a few feet away, pretending to ignore him in a way that only cats and cat species can do.

Whoever it had been who had walked past the room before, they had not entered. That had been ages ago to the little chao's mind, and he was starting to get more than a little bored.

A sudden mischievously wicked grin spread across his face. He could throw the ball at Heat! 'What a fun game,' he thought, happily. Carefully, he meandered into a position where he judged that he was close enough for his aim to be accurate. He picked up the ball, trying to hold it above his head, but only succeeding to lift it to eye-level. Taking precise aim, he threw the ball with all his might.

Not even bothering to turn his head, the golden cat chao lashed out with his tail, sending the ball back the way it had came. The little chao only had time to squeak before it struck him, knocking him backwards into the wall.

Heat stretched lazily, then walked over to where the chao was lying prone under the ball. He batted it away with one paw; it rolled off the little creature, halting roughly in the middle of the room.

The chao groaned.

"Don't worry," said Heat, smirking down at him. "It's all part of the learning process."

"I feel sick," he whined, looking at him with pleading eyes.

The cat chao mrowled, rolling his eyes. "Come on, it was just a whack from the ball. Nothing too drastic."

He shook his head. "No, not head sick. Tummy sick," he explained, pointing at his small stomach.

Heat squatted down next to him, looking unconcerned as per usual, though this was far from the truth. "You think it was the food?"

"I dunno. Maybe."

"What does it feel like?"

He considered for a moment. "Like ... like something sharp."

"That's a little vague."

"It's like someone's hammering a nail into my tummy. It hurts," he added, emphatically. "What should I do?"

"You'll need medication. Anti-Heathergreen, I think. Heathergreen's an illness usually only found in chao. You will need to be soon to quite swiftly, I imagine, since you're only small still, and you haven't got many anti-bodies."

"Will I ..." He paused, unsure of the word. "Be finished? Stop?"

"Die, you mean. Probably not. It depends on how soon you get treated. Your master is taking a long time, isn't he?" He gave the door an impatient look, as if it were its fault. Right on cue, Shadow entered the room, still looking a little haggard.

"Your chao's ill," said Heat. The black hedgehog spun round, startled once more out of his daze.

It was Pip's chao, he recognised it from before. Heat, he thought it was called. "What?" he demanded, just catching the creature's last words.

"He's ill. He needs some medication. Anti-Heathergreen. You'll have to go down to Mobius to get it. And if I were you, I'd hurry up about it."

Shadow looked at him for a moment, then went to his chao without a word, picking him up. He had gone from bad to worse even during the short time from when Heat had last looked at him; having his eyes closed and breathing hoarsely.

The hedgehog went from the room, carrying his chao. He said nothing to Heat, although the golden chao thought that he caught a faint whisper: "Please, don't let this happen to me again.".

***

Rouge walked through the space station, wondering where in the world her supposed 'partner' had got to. Still, she thought, smiling slightly. It would give her a chance to get her ... special tool. With her heels ringing on the shiny steel floor, she headed towards the space transporter.

***

"Just look at this," Tails instructed the other two Mobians. "Isn't it great?" They stood back as Tails climbed into the control-seat, making suitable enthusiastic noises. "And watch." A flick of a button, a series of whirring and clanking noises, and the machine began to break apart. Sonic and Samantha stared in wonderment as the Cyclone transformed itself from a walker into a flashy looking car. All the parts for it had been there before, but it had been reshuffled, rather like a jigsaw. "And this." Another button; another transformation, this time-

"The Tornado!" the blue hedgehog exclaimed, joyfully. "Jeez Tails, that is amazing. I am seriously impressed."

Sam grinned, hands in pockets. "As they say on the ads, 'It's never looked so good'." Neither of them could find anything more to say, and just resorted to walking round it, admiring it from every angle.

The young fox wondered when the last time he was that he had felt that proud. Not for a long time, he was sure. Nevertheless, he felt he deserved it for all the effort he had put into its improvement, and, partly, reconstruction.

"Want to come with me to test it?" he asked, eagerly.

There was no way they could have refused him.

***

"Come on, time for your din-dins," Amy called to the chao. At once, all the little creatures dropped what they were doing (Including, in some cases, other chao who they had been fighting), rushing over to her. Giggling happily, she distributed the food, careful that they were all getting an equal share and none of the smaller ones were having theirs stolen from them.

Satisfied, she straightened up, coming face to face with a black hedgehog: Shadow. She screamed aloud, backing away. All the chao looked round in alarm, wondering what could be wrong. Clove bounded over at once, although not abandoning his meal, coming to her aid.

"What do you want?" demanded the pink hedgehog in a trembling voice. "I warn you, I've got a hammer that I'm not afraid to use."

"I haven't come to hurt you. I came for your help."

"Oh?" Amy was still cautious, on her guard.

Shadow held out his hands. Cradled in them was the limp form of Saudin. He was still breathing, but not very much, and he was burning like a coal in his hands. The black hedgehog spoke quickly, with short, sharp sentences. "He's not well. He needs some Anti-Heathergreen. I thought you could help."

"Well, yes, I guess. We've got some, but ..." She trailed off. 'But you're in league with Robotnik,' she wanted to say. It did not seem a very polite thing to point out at that moment though. She knew that her sister would be cross if she refused treatment to a chao, no matter who they belonged to. Even so ... An idea came to her. "Okay," she said. "But on one condition."

His eyes narrowed. "What? My chao needs this treatment. He might die." Shadow spoke the word with even more fear than most.

"Yeah, and I need information. You're not going to get this for free, you know. Not when you work for Robotnik." Silence. He still looked angry; anxious, but he did not argue with her. "Good. Now you're going to tell me exactly what Robotnik's up to and where he is."

"No," he snapped, sounding like a cornered animal. "Give me the medicine." The chao was growing hotter still in his hands, and his breathing was laboured.

She faced him with a mixture of bravery and defiance. "Not until you tell me at least where he is. No info, no treatment. It's as simple as that."

He looked for a moment as if he might attack her, force her to tell him where it was. 'She's just like the soldiers,' he thought, bitterly. 'She wants to kill him because he's dear to me, to spoil my happiness. She is weak though. I could kill her as easily as I killed them. Easier in fact. She is a murderer.' 'No,' said another voice in his head, a conflicting voice. 'No, she is not evil.' Finally he fairly snarled his answer at her: "If you want to know, find Megabucks. Now the medicine."

Her eyes wide with fright, Amy ran to a cupboard in the wall, rummaging around until she found a jar. Swiftly, her eyes not leaving him, she shook out one, two, three pills, handing them to him. He looked from the chao to the pills, then back again, his eyes showing that he did not understand.

"I'll get you some water," she said. "It'll help him to swallow them." She hurried out of the room. Shadow waited impatiently. How did he even know that she had given him the right pills, and not poison of some sort? No, no, he had to stop panicking and focus. When he was focused he could tell who was kind and who was not, but in his current state everyone seemed an enemy.

He considered the pink hedgehog for some time until she returned. Now he had calmed down, he could see that she was probably someone to be trusted. A little silly and scared perhaps, though without any malice intended. She really was trying to help him.

A minute later she returned, a glass of water in one hand. "Swap," she said, concentrating. Without thinking, Shadow handed her his chao, taking instead the water. "Now, give me one of the pills." He did so, and she gently levered open the chao's mouth, placing the pill on his tongue. Inside, his mouth was sticky and dry, another sign of his illness. "Water." She took the glass, pouring some of the liquid into his mouth. The two Mobians watched with bated breath, waiting to see whether or not the chao would swallow the pill; whether or not he still had the will to live.

A moment passed. Amy choked back a tear, and Clove hugged her ankle protectively. She played 'Doctors and Nurses' games all the time with the chao and her soft toys, but they were never in a position where they might die. The hedgehog had seen her sister treat chao many times before though, so she knew how it should go. Only once had she seen a chao not swallow the pill, although that had been a case in the very late stages - an alley chao, discovered by accident. This chao, though, seemed to have it worse than any of the ones she had seen.

"How long's he been like this?" she whispered. It seemed right to whisper in the presence of sick people, the same as it did with the dead.

He shrugged; a twitchy movement, showing his agitation. "An hour at the most."

"I don't understand. It progressed so rapidly. That shouldn't have happened."

"It still is happening," he muttered. His voice was almost questioning, almost pleading. "He's not dead."

"Mm." She did not know how to answer that.

Then it happened, so quick they could have missed it. The chao gave a quick, convulsive gulp, and the pill was gone. "He did it!" she shrieked, excitedly. "Did you see that? He took the pill!"

Shadow gave a short laugh that sounded almost delirious, shoving the next pill into her hand. The two were like small children watching a fireworks display on Guy Fawkes Night; pensive, breathless. "He's going to improve now, isn't he?" he asked, with an exaltation that drove out all anxiety. She nodded, too relieved to speak again for the present. He sighed happily. "He is going to get better."

The chao swallowed the second pill without even waiting for the water. "What's his name?" asked Amy, rocking him gently from side to side, like a mother with a baby, moving on to the third and final part of his medication.

"Saudin."

"I haven't heard that one before. He's certainly an unusual looking chao. I've not seen one like it before."

Shadow blinked in amazement. The chao had undergone a near total transformation, now resembling Shadow himself. He was now a completely black hedgehog chao, with orange stripes on his miniature higgildy-piggildy spikes and arms. His spiked red life-force sphere still hovered inexplicably above his head. Despite his devilish appearance, though, he was still rather sweet looking. "Fiendishly cute," Shadow whispered softly to himself. Chao were wonderful creatures, able to change their whole appearance like that. They had already earned his complete awe and respect.

Yet the little chao was still dumb from his illness: he had not uttered one word. The hedgehog wondered how long it would take for him to be completely healed. Surely it would not take long with such a magical species as chao? Still, he supposed everything must have its time, especially considering how ill Saudin had been up until a moment ago. Already the chao was sitting up, looking around dazedly.

With the air of an experienced nurse, Amy placed the chao back into the older hedgehog's arms. Shadow held Saudin tight to him, pouring all his love and affection into the chao. Watching the two, she was suddenly seized with an impulse to do something that only the very young can get away with.

She threw her arms around Shadow, giving him a hug even more powerful and bear-like than the one she had given him on Prison Island. He stiffened in the way of a small creature when it knows that the predator is watching it.

"I thought you said you'd made a mistake the last time you did that," he muttered, pulling away. Such displays worried him. The last emotion-filled moment that he had experienced in his life was the death of his greatest friend, and he had no wish to bring back the horror and grief.

"You're a lot nicer than I thought you were," she replied, defensively. "And I thought you could do with cheering up."

"Well, I don't," he almost snapped, turning and striding out of the doors to the garden, Saudin clutched tightly in his hands.

"Shadow, wait!" wailed Amy, rushing after him.

It was too late. He was already gone, swallowed up in the throng of people outside.

***

Amy was already standing outside the door, waiting for the three when they arrived back. "Sonic, Sonic," she squealed, loudly. "I've seen Shadow, and I treated his chao, and he told me where we can find out about Robotnik. Haven't I done well, huh?"

The blue hedgehog leapt out of the car. "How did you-" began Tails, which was what Amy wanted to hear, but Sonic cut him short.

"There'll be time for all that later. Right now though, we don't know how much time we've got before Robotnik acts next. Who knows what he's going to do after something as big as blowing up the moon? Okay Amy, tell us what you know, then we'll take that fake emerald and teach Eggman a lesson."

"I really think you ought to slow down, you know." Riot, who was standing beside Amy, shook his head like a disapproving parent. "More haste, less speed, as they say. I can't see how you've managed to achieve so much in the past when you keep rushing into things like this."

Sonic flushed, though he bit his tongue and said nothing.

"Well, I haven't got that much to tell you actually," Amy admitted. "All he said was 'Find Megabucks'. Isn't that kinda neat and mysterious?" she added, looking impressed at the romanticness of it all.

"That's it?" He looked disappointed. "'Find Megabucks'? That's just great. I mean, she could be anywhere on the darn planet."

Samantha spoke up unexpectedly. "She's not," she said. "She's here, in Sapphire City. I read about it in the paper."

Sonic looked a little more hopeful. "I suppose that narrows it down a bit. It's still a big area though."

"While she was here she was supposed to be giving a conference. They might tell us which hotel she's staying at if we're lucky."

He considered. "No, we don't need to do that," he said, eventually. "Which is the biggest, most expensive hotel in the city?"

"I know," Amy piped up. "It's the one you're staying at: the Revay."

Sonic's blush ran deep. "Uh, good. Okay, we're going there then, because that's where she'll be. Besides," he added, as an unhappy afterthought. "We need to cancel one of the rooms."

As one, the others flashed him a pitying glance. Although he was trying to put a brave face on the matter for their sakes, his grief was still ocassionally showing through. Unfortunately, all their pity did was to embarrass him. Quickly, he turned, jogging back to the Cyclone and vaulting into the passenger side. A few seconds later, the others joined him.

***

Shadow glanced once more over his shoulder, clutching Saudin to his breast. He felt that he was being watched, had been being watched for the past ten minutes. Of course, it was hard to spot anyone out of the ordinary in a crowd; they were all moving about so much, looking in so many different directions. If some of them glanced at him, it was all the more cover for the person following him. It could be any one of them.

He was so preoccupied looking over his shoulder that he did not see the person standing in front of him until he walked right into them.

"Oh, Shadow," said the person, apologetically. "I'm so sorry."

"It's okay," he muttered, talking more to the floor than the girl, still thinking of the embarrassing pink hedgehog. He wondered why the person was apologising to him when he was the one who had walked into them. People were strange at times, he decided. It was then that he recognised the voice, at about the same instant that he realised the girl had called him by name.

His eyes widened as he looked up at the figure before him. It could not possibly be her; he had seen her die after all. Still, he had to see. He had to know whether it was just a coincidence, or ...

"Maria?"

The human standing in front of him was the spitting image of Maria. No, it was Maria herself. Such a likeness would surely be impossible to achieve. Her locks of blond hair were swept back, only partially controlled by the aliceband that she wore. Those familiar heavy lidded eyes, glittering their beautiful sea blue. She smiled at him for a fleeting moment, all the worry vanishing from her face.

"I thought you ... I thought you were dead."

Her smile vanished, and her eyes grew sad. "Shadow," she began. "There is something I must tell you."

The black hedgehog interrupted, face upturned to hers, beseeching her. "Please, don't leave me," he whispered. "Please. Not this time." Then, as if coming to his senses, he turned bitterly away. "What am I saying? You died. You don't exist. This is some kind of trick."

"No, listen to me-"

"Go away!" he snarled, venomously, causing several curious heads to turn in the crowd.

"Hey!" hollered a voice. "Shadow! What are you doing? Come on!"

Turning automatically, he saw Rouge, leaning out of the driver's side of an expensive sports car. She was indicating with one free hand that he should join her. It might be a good idea to do so, he thought, otherwise a lot of other drivers would most probably be ringing the bat's neck, considering the hold up she was causing.

He risked one quick glance back. There was nobody there. His imagination playing up, he told himself. Just like he had thought, there had been no Maria there after all. As he was about to go, something lying on the floor caught his eye: the aliceband. Still disbelieving, he went to pick it up, expecting his hand to go straight through it.

His hand closed on a solid object.

Shadow nodded to himself. So, the aliceband was real. In his experience, ghosts did not wear real life props.

There was an angry hammering of a carhorn. He went to join Rouge, his mind whirling with strange thoughts.

***

"Megabucks? I'm afraid she's just left the building, honey."

"Aw, man," groaned Sonic. "You're kidding. Where did she go? Do you know?"

They were in the lobby of Hotel Ravey, standing in front of the reception desk. The most unpleasent part of their visit over, they had progressed onto the important task of finding the infamous cat.

The heavily braided, pierced, and bangled human assistant considered his question for one moment. Sonic had not been quite sure how she fitted in with the building upon first sight, considering she was not the most elegant looking person. He had found the reason swiftly though: she had the most kindly and helpful way of talking to people that he had ever come across before in any receptionist anywhere.

She considered for a moment. "It's not my job to ask guests their business, but she did stop for a moment to chat. I wondered if she could do an autograph for my son, you see. He collect signatures, and that's a pretty famous one to get, wouldn't you agree?"

The blue hedgehog laughed derisively. "Dude, you're talking to the saviours of Sapphire City from the time when Chaos attacked the place. Trust me, we know all about famous people. We've helped Megabucks before now, too."

"Really?" The lady looked impressed. "Do you think I could have your signatures too? I'd really appreciate it."

"Yes," began Sonic, at the same time as Tails said "No." The fox looked apologetic. "I'm sorry, but we'll have to come back later. It's vital that we catch up with Megabucks. She's the only clue we have to catching Robotnik."

"That's another mission we're on," Sonic supplied, helpfully. "Oh well, catch you later."

A sudden thought came to Samantha. "Wait a minute," she told the others. To the receptionist: "Has a call come in for Megabucks recently? In the time that she's been out, even?"

She looked surprised. "Why, yes, although I can't imagine how you'd know. I told them to try calling her limo instead. It's got its own high-tech vidscreen and everything. She showed me."

"Thank you, marm." The Mobians exchanged glances. Tails was the first to speak. "So that's what Shadow must have meant: we have to track the signal."

"We've got to catch that limo, then," said Sonic, decisively. "It's our only chance."


	7. Chaos and Cosmos

_________________________________  
Chapter 6: Chaos and Cosmos  
~The final hurdle~  
_______________________________________ 

"Tails," said Amy, in a loud imperious voice. "Are you actually old enough to drive?" The fox winced. "I mean, if you aren't, that would be really bad, you know. Especially since I don't see a license plate or a tax disc anywhere on your car."

"Does it matter?" muttered Sonic, sullenly, drumming his fingers on the side of the car. He hated waiting about for anything, especially sitting around in a traffic jam. The car was open-topped, a four seater. Tails was, as previously said, driving, while Sonic was sitting on the passenger side, Amy and Sam in the back.

"Well, not unless we get caught," said Tails, seriously. "I'm not bad at driving, though. Oh good," he added, as the traffic speeded up from snails' pace to tortoises' pace.

Sonic sighed. He was hot and bothered, not helped by the fact that they were probably missing their only chance to find Robotnik. "Do you think we could turn off at the next side street?" he asked. "We might be able to take a short cut and skip the jam."

"Okay. Anything's worth a try, I guess."

They left the main road at the next turn off. There they had their best piece of luck of the entire day. Tails, who was too busy concentrating on the driving, did not notice at first. Neither did the sisters in the back. Sonic, however, did. He stared at the registration of the limousine in front of them.

"Hey, guys," he called, urgently. "Do you see that car in front of us?" They looked, Tails swerving ever so slightly as his attention was distracted. He was good at driving, it was true. He just did not have very much practise at it.

"M-E-G-." Sam stopped. "Megabucks 1? It's her!"

"Too right it is," growled Sonic. "Speed up Tails. When we get close enough, I'm going to try and jump on the car. You keep driving, okay? I've got the feeling that you might want to be distracting some pursuit."

The fox glanced at him sharply, putting his foot down on the accelerator. "You noticed them too, then?"

The hedgehog smirked a little. "That is what the sidemirrors are for, Tails."

"Noticed who?" demanded Amy.

"Those two in the car at the end of the road. Just turning in after us." Amy squinted to make them out, then gasped in surprise. "Yup." Sonic nodded. "Shadow, and that bat dude who was on Prison Island with them."

"We're almost there, Sonic," Tails warned him. "I'd jump about now if I were you, before Shadow gets too close and sees what's going on." Sonic nodded, gripping the tracking monitor in his hand, preparing himself. "Right ..." The fox drew the car in closer, only inches away from the limousine. "Now, jump!"

Sonic leapt, landing on the top of the car. Inside, the chauffeur looked up through the sunroof in surprise. "Erm, marm, there appears to be a hedgehog on the roof," he said.

The green cat was already watching Sonic, who was trying his best to keep his balance against the air resistance. "Why, so there is. Let him in, why don't you?" At a touch of a button and the sunroof slid open, Sonic dropping gracelessly onto the floor of the car. With one lowered hand, Megabucks indicated for him to stay where he was for the moment. Sonic waved the tracking monitor at her desperately. She sighed, and held out her hand for it, fitting it into the bottom of her viewing screen with one hand, out of the vision of the person speaking to her. While she did this, she continued a flow of completely natural sounding conversation. With her sun-goggles on, it was impossible to tell where she was looking, so she was giving nothing away.

"I'm sorry about that, Doctor," she said, smiling her usual patronising smile. "Just a little distraction from my chauffeur there. You were saying?"

Sonic automatically narrowed his eyes upon hearing the voice of his enemy. Although he could not see the screen from where he was, he could picture the human's face. "I was saying that we are holding the whole of the planet Mobius for ransom. If I am not given complete control within 24 hours, then the whole planet gets destroyed."

Megabucks smiled again, as only a cat can. "Cut out the bluffing, Robotnik. You can't destroy the planet, otherwise you'd be destroyed as well."

"There are some with me here who might not care about that," he said, mysteriously. "Besides, it doesn't have to be the whole planet. It could be just select parts of it. Like Sapphire City." Sonic pulled the most contorted face he could manage at the back of the screen.

Megabucks ignored the threat. "I can't really see why you're bothering me with all this, Doctor. After all, I'm not a politician, just a businessmammal, and a very busy one at that. I can't afford to have my time wasted. You see, it is of no importance to me who is ruling the planet." Upon the tracking monitor, a list of co-ordinates flashed up. It had completed its job. Megabucks saw it was time to wrap up the conversation. "Besides, taking your previous schemes into account, I doubt this one has much chance for survival either."

The cat snapped her claws, and her chauffeur cut the transmission on Robotnik's furious face. Sonic was grinning. "That told him, huh, Mega?" he said, straightening up.

"That's Megabucks to you, kid." She handed him the monitor. "There you go. The co-ordinates are for somewhere in Tario Desert. You'll have to look the rest up for yourself. Now clear off, I've got my accounts to do."

"Thanks." Grinning a goodbye, he opened the nearest door and leapt out, with a cry of: "Don't try this at home, kids."

Behind her sungoggles, Megabucks rolled her eyes.

***

Sonic landed on the road, minimising his impact with a spindash. Almost instantly he was on his feet, and looking about. The road was clear, so he was not in any danger of being run over. Where had Tails got to, he wondered, and were they all okay? He was not sure quite how ruthless the black hedgehog and the white bat were prepared to be.

He went for his comlink. "Tails?"

Static for a moment, then a faint reply. "Sonic, is that you?"

"Right on, bud. How are you doing? Did you manage to lose Shadow? If so, I could do with picking up round about now."

"We're fine for now." A pause. "Where are you?"

Sonic jogged down the street until he found the sign. "Newbrook Alley."

Rustling sounds for a minute. Then: "Okay, I think we've got that. Sorry, I forgot to fit satellite navigation, so we're having to use a map to find out where we are. Hang on, we'll just come and pick you up."

The blue hedgehog waited around for about five minutes, idly watching paper bags and sweet wrappers blowing around, wishing that he had the time to put them in a bin. The city was definitely nothing like home. Back there it was a lot less crowded, and nowhere near so dirty. Still, it was not as bad as some places he had been in, like Robotropolis. Compared to that, it was a utopia.

He glanced up as Tails drew the car alongside him. "Hop in Sonic," he told him. The latter complied. "Right, so where to next?"

"Tario Desert, little buddy, and step on it." Tails did. He at least knew the general direction to head without using the map. "So, how did you manage to lose Shadow?"

Samantha frowned. "It was strange. We looked back and they'd gone, right after you caught the limousine. Still, I suppose it can't be bad if they've gone."

"Yeah, but for how long?" said Amy, pessimistically.

"Don't let's worry about that for now. Let's just worry about getting to Robotnik's base."

"If you say so."

They drove in silence, along the coastroad. There was no traffic on the road, and it was a long, straight stretch, so Tails could just pour on the speed. "A little more like it," Sonic commented, as they cruised along at ninety miles an hour. They settled back to watch the quickly passing scenery.

Half an hour later, Amy gave a small cry from the back. "Sonic," she called. "They're back again; Shadow and that bat. And they're catching up with us."

***

"I can't believe that darn speed cop," muttered Rouge, still fuming at the indignity of it. Shadow was laughing quietly to himself. "I mean, we'd almost caught up with them, and what does he do? Give us a speeding ticket."

"And a fine," Shadow added, trying to keep a straight face.

"Humph." She glared fixedly at the road ahead. The hedgehog tried to soothe her temper a little.

"Look, we haven't lost them, anyway. They're right up ahead. We can catch up with them if we speed up. How fast can this thing go?" He looked at the speed dial, although he knew this was no indication of a car's condition. Some cars had speeds on their dials that would explode the vehicle if they reached them. They were currently doing ninety; so was the other car, too, presumably, since they were neither catching up with or losing them.

"Oh, very fast. It's got the latest high-capacity engine and stress resistors." 'And sadly, you had to choose pink,' thought Shadow, though he did not comment on this. She slammed on the accelerator so hard that he almost went flying out of his seat. "There is as seatbelt, you know," she told him, sweetly. It was almost a challenge. He grunted by means of reply, determined that he should not wear it, then leaned back in his seat. At the rate they were belting along, they would catch up with the miscreants in seconds.

From where he had been asleep in Shadow's lap, Saudin stirred, starting to wake. "Funk teddy?" he murmured, drowsily.

As the black hedgehog hugged his chao with complete relief, he thought of what a good omen his recovery was. They were going to triumph, he just knew it.

***

"Those guys are going to be onto us in a minute," snapped Sonic. "Can't we go any faster?"

Tails shook his head. "Not that much. This thing was never meant to have a car as its main function."

"Then why don't we just change the function?" suggested Samantha, her voice half lost in the wind as she glanced back at their pursuers.

Sonic looked puzzled. "What, you mean to the walker thingy? Well, I suppose we could blast the heck outta them with it." His eyes lit up at the idea of the film-like scenario.

"Don't worry Sonic," said Tails. "I know what she means. Remember about the Tornado, by any chance?" The blue hedgehog slapped his forehead. "Okay then. We're going up, up, up, and away. Hang on tight, folks."

Rouge's car was only a couple of feet away, so close that they could exchange a yelled conversation if they had wanted to, when Tails activated the Tornado. Shadow had just shouted across: "Give up the Chaos Emerald!", Sonic retorting with the rather traditional melodramatic "Never!".

The car shifted in shape for a moment, transformed into a plane before the hedgehog and bat's very eyes. It drove a few feet before lifting off the road using it like a runway.

The bat swore. "What kind of car can do that?" she demanded. "I want the name of that guy's dealer."

Shadow remained calm. "We've got to follow them," he told Rouge. The Tornado was veering across into the desert, and they would lose them if they stayed on the road.

She looked doubtful. "I'm not sure if my car will go so fast over rough terrain. We'd need a four by four."

"Fine." He vaulted out of the car, careful not to drop his chao. "It'll be quicker running. You catch up." He sprinted away, not losing pace over the soft sand, due to his hoverpads. Rouge performed a ninety degrees turn, following him. "These guys are almost good," she thought aloud.

***

"Tails?"

"Yeah?"

Sonic was standing on the wings of the Tornado, just like old times, giving more room for the other three in the cockpit. "How are we doing for losing them?"

Tails looked. "Not so bad. Shadow's quite a way behind - he's not in the car anymore, and that bat is even further. Why?"

"We need to stop a moment." They looked questioningly at him. "Because I'm pretty sure that was Knuckles we just passed."

They performed an impromptu landing, diving straight down, pulling up at the last second. Sonic leapt off the wing, running back the way they had come. The others waited for his return in an expectant silence. He did not take long. Less than a minute later, he was back, half dragging the red echidna behind him. "Quickly, guys," he called. "We've gotta take off again, prontissimo." They piled onto the bi-plane, taking off at once before any questions could be asked.

Knuckles stood on the wing with Sonic, catching his breath. Down below, Shadow was right beneath them. They had taken off again just in time.

The blue hedgehog, as usual, was the first to speak. "Okay, first things first: what are you doing here, Knux?"

The echidna held up one hand while he got his breathing steady again, then replied with a question of his own. "Have you seen a bat anywhere? A white bat?"

Sonic nodded. "She's tailing us, along with Shadow; that black hedgehog."

"Did you see if she had any Master Emerald shards on her?"

"Uh, I don't know, I didn't see. Why would she? You're not telling me you broke the Master again?"

"Well. Yes. That bat's called Rouge and I caught her trying to steal my Master Emerald. On top of that, Robotnik turned up and almost had the thing. The only way I could save it from him was by breaking it. That was a few days ago now. I've been wandering around ever since, trying to find the pieces, and I'm quite sure that that bat has been doing the same. Today, though, I accidentally found my way into this desert on my way out of a mine. I got caught in a sandstorm, and it's all been going wrong ever since."

"Aw, poor Knux," said Amy, sincerely. "Are you okay?"

"Yes, the Master Emerald shards are not damaged," mimicked Sonic, grinning at his old friend.

Rubbing his bloodshot eyes, Knuckles grinning back, aiming a pretend cuff at his ear. "So, what's been happening with you? And before you say anything, I bet you're involved with what happened to the moon somehow."

"Funny you should mention that ..." Sonic began, smiling. Quickly, in a highly condensed format, they told him everything that had happened to them.

***

Below, Shadow had stopped, getting out his comlink. "Doctor, they're heading directly towards the base. I think they must have got the co-ordinates somehow. What should I do?"

"Just sit tight; we've got them on radar. I don't know what they are planning, but I'll be sure to give them a warm welcome. Make sure you get back here as soon as possible, Shadow. Over and out."

Above the black hedgehog, Rouge glided unnoticed from one pillar to another. She had abandoned her car somewhere back in the desert. She hoped she would be able to find it later, though it was not as important as what she had to do at that moment: get back to ARK before any of the others.

On the ground, Shadow started running towards the base.

***

One of the outer doors of the pyramid slid open. Rouge stepped inside and, without bothering to close it behind her, raced off down the corridor. After a gap of about half a minute, Knuckles poked his head through the door. "It's okay guys; it's clear," he told them.

The others came through. "We did it!" cheered Tails. He had morphed the Tornado back into the Cyclone walker, and was riding in it. "I knew it would be a good idea following that bat. Let's go."

Amy squealed something triumphant, possibly a "Yes!", doing a little jump into the air. Sonic pushed past her.

"Good call, Tails. Okay, let's get go-"

Without warning, a voice echoed over an unseen intercom, making them all jump, looking around startled. "You little thieves. Did you really think that you could get in here unnoticed?"

"Oh no!" wailed Amy. "It's Robotnik again!"

"Well done, you little pink nuisance. And by the time the latest addition to my ranks finishes with you, you'll be an ex-nuisance." He laughed loudly.

"That isn't actually funny at all, you know," Samantha yelled, although she did not know where he was.

"Yeah, you couldn't make a pun if you tried, Eggman," Sonic joined in. "So why don't you come and show yourself?"

"I really don't think I need to do that, hedgehog, not with my EggGolem around. I call on you, my servant, to destroy these intruders. Go and squash that little hedgehog."

The pink hedgehog let out a wail of terror. "Sonic, behind you!" He spun round, coming face to toe with a huge stone statue. One of its hands was at least the size of any of the Mobians, and would be able to crush Sonic to death in one if it caught him. It blocked the whole of the passageway, and they would have to defeat it to progress at all.

Crouching down in a fighting position, the hedgehog called over his shoulder to the others. "Stay back guys. Leave this big dude to me." Putting his fingers into his mouth, he issued an ear-piercing whistle. The massive creature, which had been glancing at all of the Mobians, unsure which to attack, focused his gaze on him. "Yeah, that's right, buddy. You're looking at Sonic the hedgehog, renowned champion of Knothole, and way past cool Freedom Fighter."

With a grating sound, the EggGolem brought one fist smashing down where he had been a moment before. It moved surprisingly quick for a creature made of stone, only nobody on the planet was faster than Sonic. Using its fist as a stepping stone, he had leapt high, high into the air, level with the creature's face. Yelling a meaningless battle cry, he kicked it between the eyes with all the force he could muster.

It snarled, falling back. Going with the motion, Sonic was propelled even higher up the EggGolem's head. He saw something before him that did not look stone, and spindashed it hard, not caring what it was. If it was not stone, it might be a vulnerable spot.

As it turned out, it was the device that Robotnik was using to control the EggGolem. With it now lying in shards around the room, the creature no longer had any desire to kill the small creatures before it. It felt trapped, confined in a space too small for it, somewhere it did not want to be. With a terrible cry of fury, it drew back its fist, swinging it round. The Mobians all ducked, though it was now aiming for them. Parts of the wall fell about them as it ripped and smashed its way out of the pyramid, and to freedom.

"Well done, Sonic-" began Amy, but was cut off by her hero.

"C'mon, we'd better get going. Robotnik isn't likely to leave us alone, and he'll probably be sending something much worse once he discovers we've broken his little pet's collar. Mecha might be here, for all we know. Possibly worse."

They ran on into the building. "What are we looking for?" panted Amy, straining to keep up with the others.

A loud voice startled them again. "What you are looking for, I don't know. What you should be looking for, on the other hand, is me."

They stared. "Riot?" said Samantha. The Omochao grinned, leaping up onto her shoulder. "He's my chao," she explained to Knuckles, who was looking slightly more baffled than the others.

"Maybe so, but what's he doing here?"

"Waiting for you," said Riot. "Now hurry up and follow my directions. I don't know how much time we've got. We need to get to the space transporter."

***

"Hi Doctor, how's it going?" Rouge stood, her weight rested on one leg, comlink held to one of her large ears. She was in the main control room of ARK, where the interior part of the Eclipse Cannon was stored, and the Chaos Emeralds were. She snorted at what she heard on the other end of the connection. "What, you mean they escaped? They're on ARK, too? I can't believe you let them do that." She listened for a moment more, rolling her eyes to some invisible bystander at the incompetence of the human. "I'll go after them myself," she told him, cutting him off in midsentence. "But, ah, first, could you tell me the password for the space colony control?" A pause. "That's M-A-R-I-A, right? Good. Okay, bye." She dropped her hand to her side, clipping the comlink onto her trousers once more.

Exuberated, she could not help but have a little gloat at her triumph. "Hah, tricking that old doctor is just too easy. I mean, he didn't even ask what I wanted the password for. Okay, now I guess it's time to get to work."

She strode over to the control bank, eyes flicking expertly over the controls. "Easy," she murmured. "Right, so the password is Maria. All in caps, I think he said." She tapped it in. "Maria ... somehow that name seems familiar. I simply can't think where I've heard it before, though. Too bad, I guess it wasn't that important anyhow."

It took a moment for the program she had selected to load, and she drummed her fingers impatiently on the panel. "C'mon, I haven't got all day, you know," she murmured, quietly. "Good, I'm there. Now I get to search Project: Shadow, and find out what it's really all about. Let's see ..." Her eye caught a picture at the bottom of the screen, and she quickly scanned the subtext below it, pupils dilating with surprise. "What the heck is this? It can't be right. If it is though ... what does this make Shadow?"

A flashing light accompanied by an insistent bleeping rudely demanded her attention. "A large energy source coming in, eh?" she said aloud. "Possibly power gems. Separated into many different parts." A smirk crossed her face. "That can only be more of my Master Emerald, just waiting to meet me out there. Well, I guess I'll just have to go and get them then, and come back for this later."

She raced away across the narrow platform, fired up at the desirable thought of a complete Master Emerald.

***

Knuckles feverishly searched his small rucksack. "What is it?" asked Samantha, curiously.

He looked up, a serious expression on his face. "The Master Emerald shards - they've gone. I thought the bag seemed a lot lighter after we used the space transporter." He sat down on the cold steel floor, the picture of misery. "I don't know how much longer the Island can stay up without them."

"Don't worry," said Riot, brightly. "They probably just got repelled by the conflicting energy sources. Now, have you got the fake Chaos Emerald with you?" he added, turning to Sonic.

"What do you mean, 'repelled'?" yelped Knuckles. "Where are they now?"

"Oh, they're probably floating around out there in space. Anyway, as I was saying-"

The echidna stood up, blazing with forceful determination. "Right, I'm going to get them," he snarled, jogging away down the corridor.

"Er, shouldn't we go after him?" suggested Sonic, feeling a little awkward.

"No," said the chao flatly. "Do you have that fake Chaos Emerald or not, Sonic? This is the third time I've asked you, you know." He looked reproachful.

Still looking in the direction that his irate friend had disappeared, he said absently: "Yeah, yeah."

"Good. Go and find the rest of the Chaos Emeralds and put it into the last slot. You can then set it to explode. That should put a damper on Robotnik's plans. Tails can take his walker and go and check out the left side of the space station, Samantha can take the right. I need to go and check something."

Amy looked distraught. "But what about me?"

"You can stay here and make sure that nobody else uses the teleporter." The pink hedgehog huffed.

In the shadows, a small shape slipped away. Sonic turned to go, but was stopped by the Omochao. "Right," continued Riot. "I take it you want to know the plan, right? Well, the plan is ..."

***

"Long time no see, treasure hunter." Knuckles spun round. He had just picked up the last of the shards, and was in the act of shoving it into his bag. Luckily for him, they had all been close together. Standing there at the other end of the beam was Rouge, striking an unconscious pose. "So," she continued, regardless of the expression that he was presenting her with. "Did you find my emeralds?"

He snorted. "That's a good one. Your emeralds?"

She put her hands on her hips, leaning towards him. "I don't see what's so funny."

"Talking to you is a complete waste of my time. You'd better give me those shards right now, or ... well, I don't like to think what I'd do."

She rolled her eyes. "Well, I don't know what your problem is, buster, but I bet it's hard to pronounce."

He levelled his fists at her, taking on a boxing stance. "I won't ask you again: stop fooling around and give me back my Master Emerald shards. Do I have to hammer that into your thick skull?" He made a threatening movement towards her, hoping to frighten her into giving him back the shards. The echidna did not care if he used intimidation to get them back, just as long as he never had to see the annoying so-called bat ever again.

Rouge, thinking that he was indeed going to try and take the shards by force, leapt into the air, twisting round in mid jump to aim a hard kick at his face. Knuckles, who had been thinking more along the lines of diplomacy, only just managed to avoid the brunt of the blow.

"What was that for?" he snarled, glowering at her. "Can't you just have a rational discussion with someone?"

She looked indignant. "What are you babbling about? You started it. Anyway, you call yourself a treasure hunter, attacking a lady?" She gave a dismissive flick of her hand. "Shame on you!"

"Well, what kind of lady goes around stealing gems?" he retorted. "None that I know of."

"Those belong to me, you j-" Taking a step forward to emphasise her point, she misjudged the distance. With a wail of surprise, she slipped off the narrow catwalk, falling towards the lava far below.

She had hardly fallen a metre though, when a strong hand gripped her wrist. "What in the world?" she began, trying to twist round in mid-air.

Above her, Knuckles was dangling by one hand from the catwalk. With a grunt, he managed to swing himself back up, careful not to relieve his grip on the bat while doing so. Once he was back on the solid surface, he pulled Rouge up after him, helping her to her feet. They both stood there for a moment, watching each other warily, catching their breath.

It was the bat who broke the moment. "Keep your hands to yourself!" she snapped, narrowing her eyes and bearing her fangs indignantly. "Don't touch me!" She pulled her hand back viciously.

"You ungrateful ... Is that how you thank someone who has just saved your life?"

"Saved my life? Don't think I owe you one, jerk. I could have flown to safety any time I wanted."

"Oh yeah? It looked like you'd left it a bit too late for that. You were practically singing your wings off."

"Oh come on, I had plenty of time. You just wanted to hold my hand, didn't you? Come on, admit it: that's why you saved me." She rolled her eyes, placing her hands deliberately, one over the other. "Honestly, you're such a creep."

"This isn't a joke, you know. Think what you want, bat, I'm saving the Master Emerald. If I don't get it back, the Floating Island is going to plummet right out of the sky and kill a whole lot of people. I'm here to prevent that."

Rouge sighed deeply. "Do you know, no matter what you say, it always makes you sound like a pillock." She reached down into her pocket, drawing out the shards she had collected. The echidna watched in surprise as she flung them at his feet. They lay before him, glittering, even though he could see nothing that they could be reflecting off. He looked from the shards to the bat, then back again.

"Wha-" he began, confused.

Rouge tossed her head, a somewhat superior look upon her face. "Fine, just take them. They stink anyhow, just like echidnas do."

He scooped them up quickly, before the bat changed her mind. "If that's what you thought, you should have given me them in the first place," he told her, rattled. "Finally, I can take the shards and save my island." He stood up, then hesitated.

"What?" Rouge demanded, defensively.

"Look." He hesitated, unsure whether he really wanted to say it. "I'm sorry if I hurt or upset you." Turning, he strode back along the catwalk, towards the nearest airlock.

The bat watched his retreating form until it disappeared out of sight, her arms still folded. At length, she shook her head, looking up at the stars. "I guess I should get going." She turned, paused, glanced over her shoulder. A warm smile spread across her face as she half jogged, half flew away in the other direction.

***

The pink hedgehog twisted about on her heels in annoyance. "Darn!" she muttered. "Why do they always leave a sweet little innocent girl like me alone? They're just mean, mean, mean."

"Well, young lady, is there something I can help you with?"

Her eyes widened considerably as she swung round to confront the speaker. "Robotnik!" She glowered at him, ready to have a temper tantrum at a moment's notice. "Leave me alone! Go on, go away."

A soft voice spoke next to her ear. "Excuse me if I'm wrong, but I thought you were saying you wanted company a moment ago." Amy screamed her loudest, leaping nearly a foot into the air. A hand seized her firmly by her spikes, preventing her from escape. "Do you think you could give me advance warning next time you scream like that?" asked Pip, sounding a little pained.

Leaning over the dashboard of the Eggwalker, Robotnik sneered at Amy. "If you value your pathetic, worthless life then you will tell me where Sonic and Tails are."

The captive felt sharp points pressing against her throat. She gulped. What would her hero do in her place?

***

The blue hedgehog walked confidently up the catwalk, towards the control bank. He was trying not to look down. This was not least because of the mesmerising patterns that circled and pulsed there. Perhaps if he looked at them too long they would disorientate him, making him lose his balance and plunge into the depths. No, it was much better to concentrate on the job in hand.

It was not exactly a very hard thing to do. Even a complete idiot would be able to guess where the Chaos Emeralds were supposed to go, considering the conveniently sized cavities located in the core of the machine. There was only one space left to fill. Sonic felt a little sick. What if it went wrong, and the Eclipse Cannon fired on Mobius? The whole planet could be destroyed as a result.

He lifted the comlink nearer to his face. It looked more like a child's walkie-talkie than a fiendishly designed device that would be used in films. "That's probably because it is," he said to himself.

The fox's voice crackled onto the intercom. "Sonic? Did you say something?"

"I'm there, Tails," he said, softly. "The Eclipse Cannon's here."

The other's voice took on a more authoritative tone. "Okay Sonic. Now put that emerald-"

Sonic snorted. "I think I can kind of tell where it's supposed to go, thank you very much. It's got a very neat kind of Chaos Emerald sized gap right in the middle of the thing."

"Oh," said Tails, apologetically. "Sorry."

A harsh voice cut across the line, setting all of Sonic's spikes on end. It was Robotnik. "Tails, tell Sonic to meet you back at the research facility." The scientist obviously was unaware that the hedgehog could already hear every word that he said.

There was a brief silence, before the fox's voice came again. "Did you get that, Sonic? Amy is-" The line dissolved into static. He groaned, wishing that they had been able to afford higher quality models. It was at times like this, he decided, that pre-planning and a large budget did a lot to help matters.

"I didn't get that Tails," he said, though with little hope of his hearing him. "What happened to Amy? Tails!"

Nothing. He would have to find out what was going on by himself. Giving the machine one last glance, he ran down the catwalk, then out of the room. So near, yet so far. The disabling of the Eclipse Cannon was going to have to wait.

Down the many corridors he raced, trying desperately to recall at least something of the maps that they had studied before their arrival upon the ARK. It was amazing how it could all slip out of his head so quickly. All the passages looked alike to him, anyway.

After nearly ten minutes of searching, Sonic burst into a spacious room, knowing at once that he had got the right one. Three figures were standing near the wall to his right: Amy, Pip, and Robotnik in his egg-walker. The robot bat had one arm round Amy's neck. The other was pointed directly at the young hedgehog's head. He did not need to wonder why she did this, for he had long known about the concealed lasers in Pip's wrists.

Even from where he was, Sonic could see the nasty grin spread across Robotnik's face. Pip was, as ever, expressionless; unreadable.

"Son-" Amy began happily as she caught sight of her hero, before cutting off into a choking sound. The robot bat had tightened her grip on the pink hedgehog's neck.

"Nothing personal," she told her pleasantly. "But your voice really is starting to get on my nerves now."

Amy hiccoughed and went cross-eyed, trying desperately to move Pip's arm so she could get some air into her lungs. "I ... can't ... breathe ..." she croaked out.

"Well, that is the general idea." Grudgingly, the Mecha bot shifted her arm an almost imperceptible length. Gasping, Amy gratefully gulped in large mouthfuls of air.

Determinedly, the hedgehog tightened his already firm grip on the emerald, waiting for a good opening. He wasn't sure how long they had with the fake Chaos Emerald, so he would have to hope that it came quickly.

Ignoring all of this scene, Robotnik called across to Sonic. "Let's take care of business first, shall we Sonic?" Robotnik was grinning all over his face, making his moustache bristle in a manner that suggested he had a frantic squirrel stuffed up his nose. "Hand over the emerald slowly, then we'll talk about your girlfriend. That is, if you really care for her."

"In non-gangster talk for people who don't speak it fluently, that's 'Give us the emerald or she dies'," Pip translated.

"Is that a promise?" muttered Sonic.

At that moment, Tails burst in through the entrance opposite Sonic, still in the Cyclone. His eyes widened somewhat when he saw that Amy was captured, even though he had already suspected this. He shook it off swiftly though, glaring furiously at her captors.

"Let her go, you creeps!" he yelled.

"Very kind for your concern," drawled Pip. "However, it is physically impossible for robots to get cramp." Heat snickered at this, while Tails merely looked more annoyed.

"You ought to be ashamed of yourselves, picking on poor defenceless Amy."

Pip cocked her head to one side. "I'm sorry, I think I just misheard you. I thought you said we should be ashamed of ourselves for picking on Amy, but that can't be right."

"If Sonic puts the emerald in the middle of the floor without any tricks, we may consider letting the pink wretch go free," Robotnik said, looking irked at the interruption.

The hedgehog grinned to himself: perfect. Not just two birds with one stone, but three. He would get rid of Robotnik and Amy, while stopping the imminent disaster. 'Have to keep up appearances though,' he thought. Putting on what he hoped was a pathetic and submissive expression, he said, half meekly, half urgently: "I guess I don't have a choice. Don't think you've won though."

"Think we've won if you put the emerald in the middle of the floor?"

"As if," agreed Pip.

Trying his hardest not to smirk, Sonic walked slowly towards the centre of the room. All eyes were on him as he set it reverently down, ready to run when he had to. He never even got the chance.

A whirring sound came to his ears and he looked down, confused. What was going on? If he had been more alert at that moment, he might have run there and then. However, he hesitated a second too long, a second too late to escape from the trap that sprang up around him. It was a glass tube, just a little taller than his head height. Impulsively, he spindashed the nearest part, expecting it to break into a thousand and one small shards that would spray outwards with film-like effects. Instead, the glass resisted him and he just bounced back to his original position.

Robotnik cackled gleefully, leaning over the dashboard of his Egg Walker to taunt the captive hedgehog. "How do you feel now, Sonic?" He broke off into manic laughter that lasted nearly a whole minute. Pip rolled her eyes as if to say 'I'm not with this jerk'. Sonic gritted his teeth, waiting for the laughter to subside. "I've won at last," Robotnik continued, between laughs. "In a few seconds you will be jettisoned into space along with your fake emerald, and that will be the end of you."

The blue hedgehog spoke warily, glimpsing a faint light at the end of the tunnel. "Who says it's fake?"

"You did," said Heat calmly. "I was watching you when you came on board."

"Great," muttered Sonic. The light at the end of the tunnel looked more like a train's headlamps now.

"Any last words?" asked Robotnik, smirking.

Sonic took a deep breath. Tails and Amy were watching him, and he did not want them to see his hopeless frustration. He felt strangely at peace though, invincible almost.

"Tails?" The fox looked at him, wide-eyed, scared. "Finish it Tails. It's all up to you now. And Amy, take care of yourself. Pip ... well, I guess you'll just have to do what you think is right." He could not think of anything else to say. "Goodbye, guys."

"No last words to me?" Robotnik asked, pretending to be offended, though the effect was somewhat spoiled by the fact that he was guffawing while he spoke.

Sonic gave him a disgusted look. "You think I'd waste my breath on you?"

"Brave words, hedgepig." Still laughing, Robotnik flipped a switch. "So long, Sonic."

The glass capsule was shot through a yawning portal that opened below it, sealing over again almost immediately.

All the occupants of the room watched the trajectory of the capsule in silence; even the former dictator stopped his laughter. Half a minute later, when it was a good distance away from ARK, it exploded in an amazing display, reminiscent of bonfire night, although on a much grander scale. As the last of the fiery tendrils curled away, Tails turned his head, choking back his tears. Amy, on the other hand could not restrain herself, breaking into heartbroken sobs, wailing her hero's name.

Robotnik was laughing, though more quietly this time. "Adieu, my admirable adversary." Ignoring the pink hedgehog, who was crying loudly into Pip's shoulder, he turned to Tails. "Now we have some unfinished business to take care of. If you give me the real emerald, I will release you both. You have my promise." He attempted a beneficial smile, which went horribly wrong.

The fox cub shook himself, his distress becoming fury. What was it that Sonic had said to him? He had told him to finish the mission, and that was just what he was going to do. First, though, he was going to teach his hero's murderer a lesson. "I won't let you down, Sonic," he whispered aloud. His eyes narrowed with fury as he looked at the person responsible for Sonic's death. "You're going to pay for that, Eggman!" he shrieked, his hands whipping across the controls of Cyclone.

Robotnik stared dumbly in surprise as the first missile struck the Egg Walker, almost knocking it to the ground. His own hands flew to his controls, and he glowered across at the fox who had dared to attack him. He nearly quailed. The look in Tails's eyes was merciless: he was out to avenge his hero.

***

Shadow stood in his usual position at the main window of ARK, though this time there was something close to hand to watch than the stars. He observed the same great fireball that Amy, Tails and Robotnik had seen. Gently he sighed, turning his head away.

"I guess he was just a regular hedgehog after all."

Held in the black hedgehog's arms, Saudin whined pitifully.

***

Knuckles stomped angrily through the corridors. There was just something about that white bat which set his teeth on edge. He tried to tolerate most people, as long as they were not invading his privacy on the Floating Island, but she ... Well, he simply did not like her, and that was a fact.

He paused, turning his head this way and that. It felt as if the air was vibrating, or as if everything else was still and only he was moving, despite knowing he was rigid. Something strange was about to happen, he knew it. Dropping into a crouched position so as to be able to either run or launch himself at whatever appeared, he waited.

A blinding white flash lit up the area like a firework. Gasping, he screwed his eyes tight shut, covering them with his hands. Forcing them open a crack, he was witness to a peculiar sight. In the middle of the glow, a shape appeared. It was mainly blue, shaped very much like a hedgehog, a hedgehog he knew very well. For a moment he hung suspended, then the glow vanished and he fell to the floor with a thud.

"Sonic?" he asked, cautiously. "Are you okay? What happened?"

He pulled the hedgehog into a sitting position. Sonic blinked at him, as if he was not fully awake. "I hope Tails will be able to do it still. The fake Chaos Emerald has the same wavelength and properties, but is less powerful than the real one. ... Shadow's the only person I've ever seen use Chaos Control, so how do I know that I can do it? Still, I haven't got much time, so anything's worth a try. Here goes nothing. Chaos Control!"

Knuckles stared at him. His friend was in a strange state, that was for sure. It sounded as if he was repeating something that he had either heard or said before. He shook him gently by the shoulders. "Fake Chaos Emerald? Chaos Control?" he probed him.

There was the sound of hurried footsteps, then Samantha slid down next to him. "Is he all right?" she asked, concernedly. "What happened?"

He shrugged, wondering briefly where she had come from. "I don't know. There was this white light and he appeared. He said something about Chaos Control. Do you know what that is?"

She shook her head. "No. I was checking out one side of the station - Tails was checking the other - while Sonic went to put the emerald-"

"Wait. There was something else. He said something about ... a fake Chaos Emerald? Do you know anything about that?"

"It has the same wavelength and properties, but is less powerful than the real one." They both jumped, then looked down at the grinning hedgehog. "Hey guys. Whoa, I wasn't sure if I could manage that. Somehow I managed to use the Chaos Control to beam back here." He glanced down at the green emerald in his hands. "Saved at the last second, I guess."

"What's Chaos Control?" demanded Knuckles.

"It's like a sort of teleportation, using the Chaos Emeralds. Shadow told me about it. He seemed to think that he was the only one who could do it, but I did it too, right before the capsule blew." He smirked. "I bet Robotnik thinks he's got rid of me, too. Worse luck for him, huh?"

Samantha strove to keep up. "He tried to kill you?"

"Uh-huh. Chucked me out into space and all."

"Did you manage to work Plan A, then?"

"Nu-uh. As you can see, I've still got the real Chaos Emerald here, and a good thing too, as it turned out. Anyhow, I'm worried about Tails and Amy. We've got to help them, not to mention stop Robotnik and that Shadow dude." He held them for a moment in a serious gaze. "This is our last chance to save Mobius."

***

Once more Rouge stood in front of the core of ARK, though this time she was paying more than a casual interest to the Chaos Emeralds. If she could make off with these beauties, she thought, it would more than make up for losing the Master Emerald. It was partly why she had given up the shards to that angry echidna. She spoke aloud to herself, staring in wonder at the gems that would soon be hers.

"Legend has it that when all the six Chaos Emeralds are collected together their power creates a miracle. And here I am with six of them. They're mine, all mine-"

A loud voice interrupted her. "I don't think so."

She gasped, whirling round. She had had no idea that anybody had been watching her. "Shadow!" Despite her surprise, she rallied marvellously, putting her hands on her hips, giving him an arrogant look. "Don't you know it's rude to sneak up on a girl, huh?"

He ignored her. "So that was your plan, or was it a direct order from Megabucks? Now I know who you are. You had me fooled for a while, but I've finally guessed your identity. Maybe you should have changed your name, as well, Rouge the mouse. You've made quite a name for yourself in the spying business, haven't you?"

This time it took her longer to recover the power of speech, and even when she did she faltered. "So you did your homework. Is that all you know? Even so, I'd call that an invasion of privacy." She smiled at him. "Mind you, you could say the same thing about me."

He looked suspicious. "What do you mean?"

"Exactly what I say. It looks like things aren't going exactly the way I planned, but I figured since my job was done, I ought to take what's mine and get out of here."

He sneered at her. "You are one pathetic little creature." She flicked her head back; again, that same movement that she had made before when he had insulted her. Well, if she could not take a small insult what did he care. It just made her even more stupid.

"Well, look who's talking," she said, glowering down at him. He was sure that her eyes looked moist. "What about you?" With one bound she leapt off the platform, down to his level. Before she had landed she was waving a wad off papers in his face, almost as if she was going to hit him with it. He watched her warily. "Here are the result of the project containing the 'Ultimate Lifeform'. This is a picture of the real 'Ultimate Lifeform', named Shadow. Take a look, take a good close look." He stepped back a pace so that the text and picture were back into his line of focus, and looked at it. The picture on the page was the outline of some lizard-like creature.

Rouge continued, an icy smile on her face. "If there's one thing this baby ain't, it's you. And if it's right, which there's no doubt about, exactly who or what is standing in front of me?" He did not respond. "You don't know? Well, I'll tell you then. Ever heard of the so-called 'Perfect Androids'? Of course you have, though I doubt you'll remember anything about them." She held up another page with an air of venom. "That's what you are, Shadow. You're just a bunch of old mechanics made up to look like a hedgehog. What's more, you're not even called Shadow, you're called Kaiser. How's that for a dose of real life history, then?"

She narrowed her eyes at him; he stared defiantly back. Their confrontation was interrupted by a crackling signal from Shadow's comlink. He answered it, still keeping the mouse under close scrutiny.

"This is Dr. Robotnik. I have now found all seven Chaos Emeralds. Shadow, someone is trying to get to the Eclipse Cannon. There's now not much time left before the cannon fires again. Can you get over there?"

The black hedgehog snapped: "I'm on my way.", then switched the comlink off. Turning back to Rouge for what he thought would be the final time, he added threateningly: "If you want to live, leave the Chaos Emeralds where they are. The fake emerald is good enough for the likes of you."

She looked mockingly at his back. "Are you sure this isn't just because you're sore about not being the real Shadow?" Silence. This time a note of pity entered her voice. "You don't still think you are, do you?" He stopped, not looking back.

"No doubt."

She watched him, sadly, her eyes softening again, now that he could not see her face. "Even your memories might not be real, you know."

He did not answer for a moment, and when he did his voice had lost some of its conviction. He sounded as if he was almost pleading. "Even if my memories are not real, it's still me: Shadow," he told her. "And I will fulfil my promise to Maria. It's the only thing that's left for me now," he added, a sadness beyond bitterness.

"Shadow, don't go." He was already running away down the corridor, towards the firing room of the Eclipse Cannon. Her next words were barely audible. "It doesn't matter. You'd never understand, anyway."

***

Robotnik halted the Egg Walker, throwing up his hands in submission. He did not have much choice about this, since it was about to short out with the damage it had taken. "Cut it out," he snapped in a sulky voice; he was a notoriously bad loser. "You win."

"Wimp," said Pip. All through the fight she had not freed Amy, and, at the sound of her voice, Tails was reminded of this fact.

"Let Amy go!" Tails demanded. "I'm not going to ask you again, and you'll regret it if you don't."

The robot bat grinned, insofar as a robot can. "Excuse me, but do I look like the kind of person who goes around freeing whiny pink hedgehogs?"

Distracted by the fox, Pip did not notice Amy's arm slipping down to her pocket. Suddenly, Amy whipped out her extended mallet, striking as hard as she could at her captive's face. Pip yelled aloud, relinquishing her grip on Amy who dodged away, leaving her in a clear space by herself.

"You bent my nose," she yelped. Her icy blue eyes flashing, she flung herself at the pink hedgehog, who backed away into a corner with nowhere to run. Luckily for Amy, Pip never reached her. In mid-air a missile struck her, exploding upon impact. She tumbled through the air, hitting the floor, rolling to a stop by the wall, her crescent eyes switched off. The robot did not move again.

***

Sonic stood at the entrance to a highly coloured corridor, riddled with electronics. It was part of the exterior passageway of ARK, a series of tubes that wound their way around the back of the space station. Flashing lights lined the walls, diodes winking back and forth. This was his idea of a space station, all high-tech and radiating spent wealth, much better than the other corridors that he had seen. The exterior passageway was like something out of a film. 'Just as well it looks good,' he thought. 'Since its the quickest way to get to the Eclipse Cannon and stop it from firing.'

A soft voice spoke from behind him, to his right, and he turned his head quickly to see who it was. Stepping out from the darkness, Shadow smiled at him without humour. "You never cease to surprise me, blue hedgehog. I thought that capsule you were in exploded in space."

Sonic shrugged, playing it off, jogging a little. He had an idea that Shadow would talk more readily on the move. "Well, what can I say? I die hard." Knowing the next part of what he was going to say would annoy the other, he continued all the more readily. "You actually saved me, you know." He held up the yellow Chaos Emerald in his hand to show Shadow.

"Then it was the real Chaos Emerald, wasn't it? There's way you could have activated the Chaos Control using an emerald that's fake." Sonic nodded. Shadow stared at him in amazement. "Then it was all a trick? You had the real Chaos Emerald all along, and somebody else had the fake one?" Sonic nodded again. They were both running now, Shadow just a pace ahead of Sonic. "So, there's more to you than just having people mistake you for me. What are you, anyway?"

He grinned across at Shadow. "What you see is what you get. I'm just a guy who loves excitement and adventure. I'm Sonic the hedgehog, dude."

The other hedgehog nodded, again without humour, both picking up more and more speed. "I see. But I'm afraid that I can't let you live. Your adventuring days are coming to an end. Before this is over, I'll show you the true power of Chaos Control!"

"Alright then, show me if you can!"

They both hit the next section of the passageway together: this one having a clear roof, like the sort used in underwater displays. As the stars hovered in their set forms in space, the two hedgehogs prepared for a running battle. Sonic had been in enough fights by then to know that a pre-match exchange of insults was always a good idea, and so led the charge in this field. Besides, he had a bone to pick with Shadow, although it was a bone he had managed to almost completely bury by that time.

"So, you want to kill me like you killed Citras, huh?"

The other hesitated a moment. The name of Citras did seem familiar, but ... "Who or what was that?"

"'That' was my friend. He died when you blew up Prison Island." He did not add any more accusation than that, partly because he had now accepted that Citras's death was nobody's fault as such. However, he wanted to see how the black hedgehog reacted. If he had expected some smart answer, he was disappointed.

"Describe him to me."

"Uh ..." Sonic was taken aback for a moment. "Well, he is ... was, a tropical green colour. He had these little metal tips on his spikes and ears - oh, and on his elbows, too. He had this bomber jacket he liked to wear." He paused, unsure what else to say. Of course, how could he have forgotten that? He was always doing it. "And he was one of these special androids, called Perfect Androids. He was a really nice guy."

Shadow let out a strangled cry, and Sonic turned to him. "What?" He slowed down at once, twirling round on one foot. The other was running in the other direction, the way they had come. He seemed to have forgotten his duel with him.

"I am the real Shadow," the black hedgehog whispered, almost to himself, as he ran. "I am. Nobody can take that from me as well."

***

"Tails, Amy, there you are." The two looked up as Samantha and Knuckles rushed into the room. Sam smiled; relived. "Oh good, you're safe. Sonic said that you might be in danger."

The pink hedgehog stared at them, wide-eyed. "Sonic said that? You mean he's still alive?"

"But we saw him blown up in that capsule-" Tails began, then stopped. "Say, if Sonic had managed to use Chaos Control ... He told me about that before: he said that's what you call it when you use the Chaos Emeralds to teleport like Shadow was doing. And he did have an emerald with him." He looked questioningly at them.

Knuckles nodded. 'You have to hand it to the kid,' he thought. 'He's certainly smart at working things out.' Aloud, he said: "Yep, he used it, alright, and he's gone to shut the Eclipse Cannon down."

"Oh, yay!" cheered Amy, dancing about. "He's alive, he's alive! I love him!"

"What, really?" murmured Heat, from a corner of the room.

"I knew that it'd take more than that to beat him," Amy continued, happily. "Oh, I'm so glad he's safe."

The next few minutes seemed almost filmlike. Sonic called them up to say that he had shut the Eclipse Cannon down as best he could, and that he was coming back to them. In the ensuing excitement, nobody noticed Robotnik slip out of the room with the emerald - or at least, nobody apart from Heat.

The blue hedgehog entered the room in a blaze of fastfooted glory. "And the hedgehog does it again," he called, above the cheering. "The world is once more saved by the daring deeds of Sonic!" Seeing their expressions, he hastily added: "And friends, of course."

There followed a lot of hugging, thumping each other on the back, and general congratulations. In the midst of the merry-making, Sonic suddenly stood rigid, then spun round, eyes searching the room.

Knuckles watched him. "What's wrong?" he asked, seriously.

Sonic looked at them all seriously. "Has anyone seen Robotnik?"

***

The afore-mentioned human stood before the glittering bulk of the Eclipse Cannon, clutching Tails's Chaos Emerald tightly in one hand. Despite his recent defeat, he was laughing almost as much as the moment in which he had finally destroyed the horrible blue hedgehog. He was also talking to himself, something that would have heightened the suspicions of the afore-mentioned Sonic, had he been there. It was only when things were really going his way that the human did that.

"This completes my plan to take over the world! This begins the glorious era of the Empire of Eggman!"

So saying, he inserted the emerald into the remaining slot in the cannon's power base, standing back triumphantly to view his handiwork. He was so preoccupied with his thoughts of how he would pay back the miserable planet of Mobius once he had it under his control again, he quite failed to notice the danger sign flashing up onto the holo-screen.

***

"We've got to find him," yelled Sonic, racing off down the corridor, the others in hot pursuit. "He'll be thinking that that darn fake emerald is a real one now."

"I thought you wanted to blow it all up," said Heat, bounding along after them. Sonic glowered at him.

It did not take them long to find Robotnik, since he was coming the other way. He was panting, not used to running, and more than a little worried. His expression became even more worried when he saw the Mobians, but he shrugged, pushing past them. "The stupid thing's overheating," he snarled. They were unsure whether he was talking to them or to himself, but they followed him anyway.

"Yeah, well that's probably because you put the wrong emerald in, you jerk," snapped Amy. "Honestly, can't you tell the difference?"

"We're not going to let you out of our sight, Eggman," Sonic told him. "So I'd forget whatever you're going to do, pronto."

The human glanced at his pursuers. "It's too late for that." He held up a disk on one finger. "There's something terribly wrong with the Eclipse Cannon. It's overheating, and somehow it's set the whole space station moving."

"Where to?"

They were passing a window, and Robotnik made a jerking motion with his thumb. Peering out, the only thing of interest they could see was Mobius. "You mean the planet?" asked Amy, confused. "Don't we want to go back down there?"

"Not like this, you foolish little hedgehog."

Sonic had not given up his suspicions. "So, what's the disk for?"

Robotnik shrugged. "The machine spewed it out, just before it went haywire. It might be of importance, so I'm going to try and run it on one of the computers. It might stop us all dying, at any rate."

Turning the next bend in the corridor, they ran straight into Rouge. The first person she saw was the human. "Hey, have you seen Shad-" she began, then stopped as she saw the others.

"Join the gang, why don't you?" muttered Sonic. "Everyone else is," he added, eyeing Robotnik and Heat with suspicion.

"Has something gone wrong?" asked the bat, raising an eyebrow at seeing them all together. "Don't tell me, it's the echidna's fault, right?"

Knuckles glowered at her, but the others swept them along before they could start an argument. As it turned out, the human was heading for the room the Mobians had just left. They hurried in, glancing around as if expecting some intruder. However, the only creature in the room was Pip, and she was deactivated.

The eight all looked at each other, then down at the disc. "Might as well try it," Sonic said, looking carefully at the others. Some hesitated. After a few seconds had passed though, they had all nodded in agreement, Rouge wondering what she was agreeing to.

Sonic handed the disc to Robotnik, jerking his hand back sharply as he took it. The hedgehog had not yet forgotten the human's very recent attempt to kill him. Robotnik contrived to look faintly hurt by this. However, he remained silent as he slid the disk into the machine, flicking on the holo-projector. They all stepped back behind the boundaries of the projection to watch.

A flickering figure moved across the room, coming the centre before turning to face one side. Those who were not already there moved to get a better view. It was human; more than reminiscent of the current Robotnik in looks. He could be no one but Professor Gerald, his grandfather.

When he opened his mouth to speak, he was outwardly calm, his voice steady. They could sense this was covering something else. "By the time you are listening to this, I will be dead." Amy let out a gasp at this emotionless statement, then was quietened as her sister put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "There is nothing left for me anymore, no reason to live." His eyes glinted, turning hard with hate. "You took away all I ever loved, all I ever cared for." Another sudden change: his voice turned soft, sorrowful even. "I neglected Maria with my studies as my only pitiful excuse. Still, she was happy and content always. After her mother died, she lived with me on ARK on a permanent basis. She had a companion, true, but she was neglected all the more for that reason. They could never be truly happy, living in confinement here." The hate returned once more. "You killed her, my granddaughter, and you have killed me. You will pay for all you have done, murderers. I will destroy your paltry planet and I will destroy you. Die in the knowledge that justice has finally been done."

Without warning, the image flickered, showing a young human girl. It must be Maria, they decided. Almost at once, the image flicked back to Gerald Robotnik.

"The space station will crash into the atmosphere with the force of a meteorite, setting off a chain reaction that will destroy the whole planet."

The projection ended abruptly. There was silence for a full half minute. Each creature felt the need to think this information over, so brutal and strickening it was. After the small eternity had passed, it was Sonic who broke the silence.

"Huh, it's making me feel guilty and I wasn't even born then. You don't think it was just an audition he recorded for a film and forgot to send off?" he added, hopefully.

Robotnik shook his head. "Unfortunately, no."

"Can we alter the course?"

The human was first at the control panel, flicking switches, typing in lightning fast commands. The others watched him, anxious for a positive result. Turning, he shook his head. "The controls are locked; dead. The course is set for Mobius, and I can't override it. He was speaking the truth."

"Of course he was," said Heat, quietly. "Dead men tell no lies."

Amy was trying very hard to control her tears, not wanting to appear a wimp in front of so many people. "Are-are we all going to die then?" she stammered. Samantha squeezed her hand tightly, though it did little to comfort her.

Sonic, who hated being a defeatist said: "There has to be something we can do."

Robotnik agreed at once. "Of course there is. All we should have to do is knock out the power core. This station is not going to go anywhere without it."

"We're going to have to work together to do this," said Rouge firmly, looking round at them all. She held out one hand, face down. Tails was the first to place his palm on her hand, the others following suite.

"Okay," said Rouge, who appeared to have taken charge of the situation. "Now we've got to figure out a plan of action."

"There are three reactors we will have to destroy before we do the main central one," Robotnik told them. "One is exterior, one is located at the back of the space station. The last one is the main one, somewhere in the centre core."

Knuckles was the first to volunteer, almost before Robotnik had finished speaking. "I'll take the exterior." He held up his talisman for the benefit of those who had not already seen it. "I'm not sure exactly how it works, but the result is something like an oxygen tank that doesn't run out. If I use it I can breathe even in a vacuum like space."

Rouge nodded, taking out her oxygen mask. "Fine, but I'm coming with you."

Knuckles looked like he was about to protest, then shrugged. "If you really want to."

"I do want, 'chidna boy. C'mon." She headed to the airlock, Knuckles following.

"Why don't Robotnik and I do the side one?" suggested Tails. "We've both got walkers so we should be able to get through quickly if the ARK starts throwing up any trouble."

The human was surprised that the cub wanted to go with him, consenting readily enough. The two clambered back into their walkers, activating them swiftly. They manovered them out of the room, down a side corridor. For some reason, Robotnik actually allowed Tails to lead them, choosing to give the directions from behind. Sonic had the strange feeling that he was doing this because he was impressed by the young fox.

The remaining three, four if you included Heat, looked at each other. The blue hedgehog grinned. "Hey Sam, how do you fancy going and knocking out that main reactor, huh?"

She shrugged, smiling back at him. "I don't know how much use I'll be. I can't run like you can, or fly like Tails, or-"

Sonic prevented her from continuing by putting one gloved hand over her mouth. "Enough excuses already. You don't need any of those things to help. Besides, it's not like I haven't taught you any tricks. You can do a spindash."

"Of sorts."

He held out one hand. The opaline hedgehog took it, almost yanked off her feet as Sonic shot off.

Amy looked wistfully after them. "I wish he'd take me with him."

"Why?" asked Heat, flatly.

The pink hedgehog rocked on her heels, smiling dreamily. "Because he's my hero and the bestest person in the whole world. And I will get him to marry me one day," she added, a determined glint coming into her eye.

The chao stared at her. "And people think that Pip's crazy," he muttered.

He padded across the steel floor to look out the large window through which Mobius could be seen. Amy stayed where she was, trying to think of something she could do to help. She hoped against hope that the ARK would not hit; she did not want to die.

'It might hurt,' she thought. She was scared of pain, even more scared of dying.

Their whole fate now rested on six people: Sonic, Sam, Knuckles, Rouge, Tails and Robotnik. Nobody else could do anything to save them- The pink hedgehog gasped aloud. Of course, Shadow! He could help them. Where was he though? At last, here was something she could do for Sonic.

She ran off down the nearest corridor, determined to find Shadow. Heat, watched her go in the window's reflection. Softly, he moved over to where Pip lay, batting her face with his paws. The robot's eyes flicked back on immediately, and she sat up.

"Has she gone?" she asked. The chao nodded.

Swiftly and silently, the robot bat got to her feet, following behind the pink hedgehog.

***

Shadow was standing silently in the bridge area, his back to the door. He did not notice, or perhaps did not want to notice, the pink hedgehog who rushed breathlessly into the room, eyes wide. He merely continued stroking Saudin, who was curled up sleepily in his arms. His recovery was astounding: he was even more impressed with the chao-creatures than he had been before. The chao that resembled him was even back onto eating solids now, less than a day after his treatment.

Amy took a few faltering steps forward, wondering whether or not she should disturb him after all. Suddenly, it did not seem like such a great idea to enlist him.

"Yes?" Amy jumped. He had not turned round, and she had not been making that much noise.

"How ... how did you know I was there?"

Shadow turned slowly, the faintest glimmer of a smirk upon his face. "Elementary," he said. "I could see your reflection in the glass." She blushed at her stupidity, wondering why this had not occurred to her. He frowned, his brow furrowing. To her great surprise, he even took a step backwards. "You are not the hedgehog who hugged me, are you?"

"Erm."

"You are the hedgehog who hugged me," he confirmed, emphasising the 'are'. "Twice. What do you want?"

"I ..." She drew herself up to her full, if not considerable, height. Why should she be scared of this hedgehog? He was the one who was frightened, or at least suspicious, of her. "We need your help. If you don't help us, we're all going to die." She felt the tears prick her eyes, and desperately tried to fight them. The last thing she wanted to do was to cry in front of Shadow. Even so, the situation seemed so hopeless; not even her hero was assured of triumph.

"So?" he demanded, harshly. "We die. It happens to everybody sooner or later. Get used to it."

"You're mean!" Amy's bottom lip was trembling. If Shadow had known the signs, he would have realised that he was in grave danger of a spectacular Amy hysterical fit. As if was, he merely continued to train upon her his suspicious stare. "Don't you care about saving people's lives?"

"Because if you don't help, everybody's going to kick the bucket, pop their clogs, and be as dead as doornails." They both spun round, to see who had spoken. The pink hedgehog's eyes widened still further, if that were possible.

"What are you doing here?" she blurted out. "I thought you were dead! I mean, Tails shot you and everything."

"Yup, I was there; I kind of noticed. It's not something I'm likely to miss. No pun intended. Oh, and I'm here because I was following you. I got bored dying, so I decided to do something marginally more entertaining."

Amy considered this, trying to work out whether she had just been complimented or insulted. In the end she gave up. "You're not going to try and kill me?" she asked, doubtfully. "If you do, I'll scream."

"The very thought sends shivers down my spine, or at least the nearest equivalent. Besides, I've got bored of that."

Shadow turned, beginning to walk away, further down the bridge. Saudin watched them from where he had scrambled up onto his master's shoulder. Pip, who had got carried away with teasing Amy, remembered what she had been going to say. Amy also did not want Shadow to go, as she wanted to do her bit to help Sonic.

"Hey! Mr. Hedgehog! Please don't go." The black hedgehog stopped, but did not turn or come back.

Pip joined in. "We need you. You can save the world. Without you, everybody's going to die. Everybody."

Shadow turned abruptly, almost swaying upon his feet, looking dizzy, sick almost. "What did you say?"

"I said that everybody's going to die," she said, patiently. "Which could be a bit of a pain really, if you think about it."

"No, before that."

"Oh." She thought for a moment. "About saving the world?"

__

A dying human girl, reaching out a hand to Shadow, her usually bright blue eyes dimmed, glazing over. Blood was flowing freely from a bullet-wound to her chest, that she was feebly attempting to staunch with a folded up wad of her dress. Even though she struggled to hang on to life, she knew in her heart of hearts that it was too late for her: she was dying.

"I can't leave you," he whispered, fiercely.

She shook her pretty head, smiling wanly at him. "Please Shadow. Do it for me. Promise me-" She coughed, a horrible choking sound, and blood was in the palm of her hand when she withdrew it. She looked up at him, trying to put on a brave smile for his benefit. "Promise me ... that you will make the people happy, like you said granddaddy was trying to do. Save them. Only you can save the world now, Shadow. You must promise."

He was a strange contrast to her perfectly still form; his whole body shaking with uncontrollable anguish. "I promise, Maria," he whispered. Shadow clasped the hand all the more tightly in his, as if through this he could somehow bring her back to the world of the living. "I promise."

"I promise," Shadow whispered, fiercely. Without a backward glance, he ran past the three, back down the corridor.

Amy looked puzzled. "Did he just say something about a promise? What was that all about?"

The robot bat sighed, shrugging. "Don't ask me. Heroes are all weird like that." Amy made no comment, privately feeling that her hero was not weird in the slightest. The two proceeded to follow the black hedgehog at a slightly more relaxed rate, towards the ARK's Emerald Shrine.


End file.
